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Total Revenue Deficit Grant released to States so far in current financial year has gone up to Rs. 50,283.92 crore

States will get a total Revenue Deficit Grant of Rs. 86,201 crore in 2022-23

The Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance has on Thursday released the 7^th monthly instalment of Post Devolution Revenue Deficit (PDRD) Grant of Rs.7,183.42 crore to 14 States.  The grant has been released as per the recommendations of the Fifteenth Finance Commission.   

The Fifteenth Finance Commission has recommended a total Post Devolution Revenue Deficit Grant of Rs. 86,201 crore to 14 States for the financial year 2022-23. The recommended grant is released by the Department of Expenditure to the recommended States in 12 equated monthly instalments. With the release of 7^th instalment for the month of October, 2022, the total amount of Revenue Deficit Grants released to the States in 2022-23 has gone up to Rs. 50,283.92 crore.

The Post Devolution Revenue Deficit Grants are provided to the States under Article 275 of the Constitution.  The grants are released to the States as per the recommendations of the successive Finance Commissions to meet the gap in Revenue Accounts of the States post devolution.

  The eligibility of States to receive this grant and the quantum of grant for the period from 2020-21 to 2025-26 was decided by the Fifteenth Finance Commission based on the gap between assessment of revenue and expenditure of the State after taking into account the assessed devolution during this period. 

The States who have been recommended Post Devolution Revenue Deficit Grant by the Fifteenth Finance Commission  during 2022-23 are : Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.

State-wise details of Post Devolution Revenue Deficit Grant recommended for 2022-23 and the amount released to States as 7^th  instalment are as under:

Various new functionalities are implemented on the GST Portal, from time to time, for GST stakeholders. These functionalities pertain to different modules such as Registration, Returns, Advance Ruling, Payment, Refund and other miscellaneous topics. Various webinars are also conducted as well informational videos prepared on these functionalities and posted on GSTNs dedicated YouTube channel for the benefit of the stakeholders.

To view module wise functionalities deployed on the GST Portal and webinars conducted/ Videos posted on our YouTube channel, refer to table below

Concessional custom duty on Edible Oil import extended till March 2023 to keep domestic price under control

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) in a notification no. 46/2022-Customs dated 31st August, 2022, has extended existing concessional import duties on specified edible oils up to March 31, 2023. The move is aimed at increasing domestic supply and keeping prices under control.

The concessional customs duty on edible oil import has been extended by another 6 months, which means that the new deadline will now be March 2023. Prices of edible oil have been on declining trend driven by fall in global prices. With falling global rates and lower import duties, retail prices of edible oils have fallen considerably in India.

The current duty structure on crude palm oil, RBD Palmolein, RBD palm oil, crude soybean oil, refined soybean oil, crude sunflower oil and refined sunflower oil remains unchanged till March 31, 2023. The import duty on crude varieties of palm oil, soyabean oil and sunflower oil is currently zero. However, after taking into account 5 per cent agricess and 10 per cent social welfare cess, the effective duty on crude varieties of these three edible oils touches 5.5 per cent.

The basic customs duty on refined varieties of palmolein and refined palm oil is 12.5 per cent, while social welfare cess is 10 per cent. So, the effective duty is 13.75 per cent.For refined soyabean and sunflower oil, the basic customs duty is 17.5 per cent and taking into account 10 per cent social welfare cess, the effective duty comes to 19.25 per cent.

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal announced that 7 new PLI schemes that are not part of the original program had just been approved and reiterated the Government’s commitment to promote manufacturing in India. He was addressing IIM Ahmedabad’s Red Brick Summit 2022 virtually from New Delhi today.

Shri Goyal said that the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme has been very well received. The Minister opined that the idea behind PLI was to promote those champion sectors where we have a comparative and competitive advantages. The Minister also said that we must get out of the mindset of subsidies and build a resilient and self- reliant business ecosystem that is not dependant on government.

Shri Goyal observed that Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are the real beneficiaries of the PLI scheme because when a large industry came up, it brought with it a whole ecosystem of manufacturers and service providers. “The mainstay of India is MSMEs and the mainstay of MSMEs is large industry which aggregates what our MSMEs are doing and provides them with more opportunities”, he said. The Minister also assured that every PLI scheme is very carefully and thoroughly assessed in collaboration with Industry before being formulated. He added that the PLI was just a kick-start mechanism and therefore needs to have a sunset clause as ultimately the industry needs to be viable and independent.

The Minister said that the roll-out of 5G in the country is a very big confidence booster to India’s aspirations for growth and added that the enthusiasm surrounding the launch of 5G is truly empowering.

The Minister noted that India’s youngsters made the nation very proud with their out of the box ideas and observed that the spirit of enquiry has finally set into our young people. He expressed his admiration for the simplicity and brilliance of the innovations of countless start-ups of the nation. He said that this simplicity of innovation is what took India from the 81^st rank in 2015 to 40^th rank 2022 in the Global Innovation Index (GII).  He said that it was a matter of pride that government, industry and academia have started realizing the value of innovation in India.

The Minister highlighted India’s green energy push and said that India is one of those few countries which have not only met the commitment it made in Paris in 2015 but has exceeded it. “We committed to 175 GW of clean energy. We have now upped the ante to set a target of 500 GW and we are well on track to achieve it”, he said. Shri Goyal added that  our energy mix is expected to be predominantly renewable by 2030. The Minister also noted that India was well on track to create 1 billion tonne Carbon sink through afforestation and rejuvenation. He added that our industry has been working on newer technologies like green Hydrogen to ensure round- the -clock supply of renewable energy.

Referring to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of an international solar grid, the Minister said that efforts were being made to collaborate with like-minded nations to create such a grid. He said that love and respect for nature are intrinsic in every Indian and added that this government is totally committed in its efforts to make India and the whole planet a better place to live in. The Minister said that PM Modi believed very strongly in inter-generational equity, that we do not have the right to take away the natural resources of the world and leave behind a problem for our future generations. He invited participation from academia and industry in the Government’s pursuit of sustainable development.