Assam today said that no reimbursement of GST to industries will be allowed in the first quarter of the current financial year, as the state introduced several strict measures to fight the coronavirus crisis with almost no revenue collection.
State Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced that all expenses pertaining to industrial exemptions, subsidies and incentives of various sectors are suspended until further orders.
"Finance department has asked the other departments not to initiate any new departmental scheme," he said.
Salaries of heads of PSUs and corporations will be slashed by 25 per cent, the state announced.
Refund for industries from state government has been put on hold for four months and the finance department has barred departments from purchasing any new vehicle without prior approval of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.
No executive class flight travel will be allowed except for the Governor, Chief Minister, Chief Justice and other judges of Gauhati High Court and the Chief Secretary of the state.
Mr Sarma also said that conferences or functions in physical mode will be banned for the first quarter; later, there should be minimum expenditure while organising such events.
He also announced a complete ban on holding meetings in five-star hotels.
Apart from this, no officer will be allowed to attend any foreign workshop or course whose expenditure will be borne by the state government.
The finance minister added that release of MLA Area Development Fund will remain suspended in the first four months of the current financial year or until further orders.
However, Assam won't be deducting any salaries of employees for April and May.
Assam accounts for 38 of cases of the country's 31,787 coronavirus cases.
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