SPEAKING at the Goods Service Tax (GST) council meeting on Thursday, Maharashtra Finance Minister Ajit Pawar urged the Centre to act like a big brother and save the state's economy by paying the state government its GST compensation share of Rs 22,534 crore. He also said the Centre should seek loans for distribution among the COVID-19 affected states.

Pawar said at the meeting chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman that the state's GST dues till July this year would increase to Rs 1 lakh crore in two years if not paid by the Centre immediately. "The Centre has accepted the responsibility of saving the states, so it must fulfill the duty of a big brother. We have not been getting our share in time," Pawar told Sitharaman in presence of his finance department colleagues from various other states.