Odisha to get about Rs 8000 cr more funds from Centre

Sambad English Bureau Published On : Mar 1, 2015 at 10:44 PM Updated On : Mar 1, 2015 at 10:48 PM

Reported by Santosh Jagdev
Bhubaneswar, Mar 1:

Rebutting the contention of the Odisha government that the state would lose substantial revenue on the basis of the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission, Union Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan today said the state would receive about Rs 8,000 crore more funds from the Centre per annum as compared to the allocations recommended by the 13th Finance Commission.

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In spite of the decrease in the share of Odisha in tax devolution, the state would receive more funds as the Centre has increased the quantum of fund allocation, Pradhan told reporters here.

He said as per the recommendation of the 14th Finance Commission, Odisha would get Rs 24,416 crore as against Rs 16,630 crore recommended by the 13th Finance Commission.

He also said the state would get additional revenue from coal and other minerals through auction process.

Replying to a question on the budgetary provision for Nabakalebara festival in Puri in June this year, the Union minister said though the Centre has made no budgetary provision for the mega festival, it would provide all possible assistance to the state government as the Union cabinet secretary has already conducted two meetings on the preparation of the festival.

“This apart, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during a meeting with the Gajapati king of Puri Dibyasingh Deb in New Delhi on Saturday, has also assured him of providing all possible assistance for success of the Nabakelebara,” Pradhan informed.

He also informed that Odisha is among five states where an ultra mega power project would come up.

“This has been categorically announced by the Union Finance minister Arun Jaitley in his budget speech that the five UMPPs would be set up with an investment of around Rs 1 lakh crore, Pradhan said.

It may be mentioned that chief minister Naveen Patnaik, while describing the Union budget as disappointing in a statement on Saturday, had said that the share of the state in tax devolution from 4.78 to 4.6 percent will involve a loss of about Rs 4,600 crore over a period of five years.