Guwahati: Asserting that GST has been beneficial for the Northeast, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said revenue generation in Tripura has increased substantially after its introduction.

Before GST was introduced, Rs 4.61 crore was collected under the central sales tax from Tripura (2016-17 FY) of which the state's share was Rs 4.21 crore. In 2022-23 FY, the northeastern state's tax share was Rs 982.50 crore," she said after inaugurating the GST building here.

Noting that the GST is a consumption-based taxation, the minister said the more the state consumes, the more will be its GST collection.

"Revenue collection has been extremely good in Tripura after the introduction of GST," she said.

Stating that staying away from GST will not benefit trade, Sitharaman said the officials must adopt two prone-strategies to assist the assessees of plains (urban) and reach out to the people living in far-flung areas to make them understand about the GST's advantage.

"Large companies don't trade with small companies who don't have GST registration", she said, adding the Customs has a role to play in facilitating trade between the state and Bangladesh.

Earlier, the Union Minister, who arrived here on a two-day visit, was welcomed by Chief Minister Manik Saha at MBB Airport.

She is scheduled to have a meeting with the heads of rural banks at a city-based hotel on Friday evening.

The minister will also visit Srimantapur Integrated Checkpost in Sepahijala's Sonamura subdivision to see the bilateral trade facilities on Saturday.

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