Chennai: Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu Friday refuted Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that the central government had given more funds to the state than the direct tax collected there.
At a press conference in Chennai, Thennarasu said the Centre had done nothing to help Tamil Nadu.
“The Union government has provided approximately Rs 4.75 lakh crore to Tamil Nadu from 2014-15 to 2022-23 (tenure of Modi government),” he added. “Out of this, Rs 2.46 lakh crore is tax-sharing from central taxes, while Rs 2.28 lakh crore is provided on the basis of grants and scholarships available to Tamil Nadu. The direct tax collection from the state during this period was Rs 6.23 lakh crore.”
On Thursday, Sitharaman had said while direct tax collection from Tamil Nadu was Rs 6.23 lakh crore in the aforementioned period, the Centre “gave Rs 6.96 lakh crore to the state”.
She was addressing the Modi government’s Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra, an initiative to promote awareness about its welfare schemes and bolster enrolment, in Chennai.
On a visit to Trichy Tuesday, PM Narendra Modi said Tamil Nadu had got 2.5 times more money from the Centre under him than in the 10 years of the UPA government.
Thennarasu said Sitharaman had not shared any data on indirect tax revenue received from Tamil Nadu, and added that “for every rupee that goes from Tamil Nadu to the Union government, the return to Tamil Nadu is 29 paise”.
“But in BJP-ruled states, the ratio is completely different. For example, from 2014-15 to 2022-23, while… Uttar Pradesh paid Rs 2.23 lakh crore in taxes, the central government has given it Rs 15.03 lakh crore back,” Thennarasu said, contesting Sitharaman’s statement that the “central government has been giving back the cess, tax or even the GST collected from TN and in addition providing additional funds”.
The minister said the 12th Finance Commission had recommended 5.305 percent as Tamil Nadu’s share in the total divisible pool of central taxes, but the 15th Finance Commission had brought it down to 4.079 percent.
“These statistics are an example of Tamil Nadu’s lack of adequate funds,” he said, adding that the state accounts for 6.124 percent of India’s population.
Tamil Nadu, he said, had lost its financial autonomy and “is now facing a revenue shortfall of Rs 20,000 crore”.
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‘State share in central projects higher’
Talking about the money received for central government projects, the state minister said Tamil Nadu was contributing more towards the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, a housing scheme, than the Centre.
“The Chennai Metro Phase 2 project… implemented at a cost of Rs 63,246 crore… is being developed with the state and the Centre each sharing 50 percent of the investment. Home Minister Amit Shah laid the foundation stone for this project. However, to date, the Union Government has not allocated funds for this,” he added. “During the same period, the Union government has allocated funds for metro projects in states like Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra etc.”
Thennarasu also requested that the Centre “take into consideration the demand of the state for immediate relief of Rs 2,000 crore for relief operation in the districts hit by Cyclone Michaung” last month.
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)
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