Mumbai, Mar 16 (PTI) The Union government has not yet paid GST dues of Rs 26,000 crore to Maharashtra and if the state gets this money it would be very helpful, Minister of State for Finance Shambhuraj Desai told the state Legislative Council on Wednesday.Responding to a discussion on the Budget in the upper house, Desai said the payment of Goods and Services Tax dues by the Centre was pending since 2019."If the Union government pays the dues on time, it would be helpful for the state to address other issues," he said.He also claimed that the state government has succeeded in checking "financial leakages" in some schemes.Maharashtra is expecting investments totalling Rs 4 lakh crore from 98 Memorandums of Understandings in the last two years, the minister further said.The state government"s earnings have actually gone up because it slashed the excise duty on liquor, he claimed. PTI ND KRK KRK