New Delhi, Aug 13 (KNN) It has been more than a year of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) implementation, but refunds of the previous tax regime (Value Added Tax) are still pending with the Punjab taxation department.

Around Rs 600 crore arrears of the erstwhile Value Added Tax is pending with the Punjab government which has made small businesses vulnerable as they are facing severe working capital crunch.

In this regard, Federation of Punjab Small Industries Associations (FOPSIA) President, Badish Jindal said “the state government had been shifting deadlines to clear the backlog, but in vain.”

Earlier, they had promised to provide Rs 200 crore by April-May this year, but this could not happen, he added.

He said “The way they are arranging and releasing the funds, it seems another two years will be required to clear the backlog.”

Worried about the Punjab industrialists, Jindal said that industrialists of the state are facing problem in running their business. Most of them already exhausted their bank limit.

So far just about Rs 67 crore have been released by the government against the pending VAT refunds, he added.

On huge pendency on VAT refunds in the state, Punjab Industries Minister Sunder Sham Arora during his recent visit to industrial town Ludhiana said that no refunds will remain pending after December 2018.