By Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Central Government has offered support to Kerala’s demand for a GST cess to mobilise funds for flood rehabilitation work, said Finance Minister Thomas Isaac.

After meeting Union Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday, Isaac said the Centre has responded positively to Kerala’s demands. The cess proposal will be placed at the upcoming GST Council meeting.

The state government had originally proposed a 10 per cent cess on SGST that would mobilise anything between Rs 700 crore and Rs 900 crore a fiscal. But Jaitley said he would push for a pan-Indian cess to help the state to have more.

Isaac said the cess would help the state mobilise about Rs 2,000 crore in two years.

The state’s second demand — upping the borrowing limit — also received a green signal. However, the Union Minister shot down the idea of raising the limit to a particular figure and instead suggested the limit could be fixed on a need basis.