New Delhi, June 19 (KNN) Large numbers of exporters across the country were awaiting refunds to the tune of Rs 25,000 crore, which have been stuck due to inability of the GST network, said West Bengal Finance Minister, Amit Mitra.

He said “There have been 3 lakh applications from exporters of the country, involving Rs 25,000 crore, which are awaiting refunds,” said Mitra, also a GST Council member.

He made the above remarks during an exports conclave, a part of the Bengal Global Business Summit 2019 road show.

Quoting the reason of delay, Minister said that the GSTN auto verifies refund claim but it is unable to do so, and therefore the authorities are relied upon manual verifications that leads to huge pileup of applications and impacts the working capital of the exporters.

Further, he added that an average of only 35-40% of these applications has come to states for manual verification and also the situation is grim for West Bengal with regard to refunds.

Concerning the situation, Mitra said that he will raise the issue with the GSTN.

Also, to partially tide over the crisis, Mitra had earlier assured the state’s exporters of some advance credit.

With an aim to double exports from existing $9.15 billion over the next 3 years, he has decided to adopt measures to improve infrastructure for exporters at the district level.

The WBIDC and MSME will work together to set up export facilitation centers at district headquarters, he added.

Also to push exports from the state, he laid emphasis on key sectors like steel, foundry, garments and leather.