In the current fiscal year, more than 1,15,000 crore rupees have been distributed to the States and Union Territories as GST compensation. In a written response submitted to the Rajya Sabha today, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made this claim. The Finance Minister stated earlier that the Centre collects cess for a specific purpose in response to supplementaries in the Rajya Sabha regarding cess collection and sharing with States. According to her, it cannot be kept by the Center and eventually travels to the States. According to the Minister, over 28 percent of gross tax collection in the fiscal year 2021–2022 was attributable to cess and surcharges.
In response to a different question, she stated that, as of last month’s 30th, over 76 thousand crore rupees in cess had been collected for the current fiscal year. Regarding the financial allocation for the education sector, the Minister stated that it is the government’s top priority and that more than one lakh crore rupees has been set aside for the current fiscal year.