Addressing a post-Budget interactive session with the members of the industry chamber PHDCCI on Wednesday, Sitharaman said that it could be done if there was an agreement among the states.

The statement echoes Puri's November 2022 assertion that the Central government had been "ready all along" if the states agreed. The administration has however not given any indication how such a decision would be implemented.

"They get revenue out of this. One who is getting revenue, why would he leave it? Liquor and energy are two things that generate revenue. It is only the Central government which is worried about inflation and other things," Puri had been quoted as saying.

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Sitharaman said on Wednesday that that the government had made efforts to increase public expenditure with a view to promote growth over the years. She also said that the states were being nudged to carry forward reforms in various sectors including power and also implement the 'one nation, one ration card' scheme.

"Consistently for the last three-four years, the emphasis has been given on public capital expenditure. We have kept that up in this budget...capital expenditure, clearly can be said as a real focus of this budget," she said.

Sitharaman said that the government had increased the capital expenditure by 33% to ₹10 lakh crore in the 2023-24 budget.

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The gross GST revenue collected in January 2023 was ₹1,55,922 crore. This was for the third time, in the current financial year, GST collection has crossed ₹1.50-lakh-crore mark. The GST collection in January 2023 is the second highest next only to the collection reported in April 2022.

(With inputs from agencies)