GST blues to be rectified in six months: Finance minister Dr T M Thomas Isaac

Thiruvananthapuram: Finance minister Dr T.M. Thomas Isaac said that the problems the state faced in tax collection after the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) would be rectified in six months. Mr Isaac while replying to a calling attention motion by A.P. Anil Kumar informed the assembly on Tuesday that this would help the state to come out of the economic slowdown it was facing now. The State Government was investing about Rs 50,000 crore on infrastructure projects. In the first phase, the state has already sanctioned work worth Rs 20,000 crore. The tender process for this had already been initiated, said Mr Isaac.

The Government would pay the arrears due to contractors by April to revitalise the sector which was facing a crisis, said Mr Isaac. Demonetisation had resulted in the destruction of the productive sector. The introduction of GST had added to the woes of the financial sector which had already been facing the burden of demonetisation, said Mr Isaac. It was the small scale sector which was affected the most by GST. The crisis in the Gulf countries, which forced many people working there to return to the country, had aggravated the situation, said Mr Isaac. Mr Kumar who raised the issue alleged that the state government was not taking any steps to tide over the crisis.