Bhubaneswar: Odisha will bear losses once the measure to reduce the State’s share in Central taxes proposed by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Union Budget 2021 is implemented, said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

In his reaction, the Chief Minister said Odisha would be hit by a drastic reduction of share in the Central taxes by about Rs 10,840 crore for the current year. As per the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission, the horizontal share of the State will decrease from 4.629 percent to 4.528 percent for coming five years. “This will seriously impact the State,” Patnaik stated.

He further said capital investments are very much required in Odisha both in railways and highways sectors as it has been planned for other states.

There is a need to increase allocation in social assistance programmes and quantum of transfers for local bodies, Patnaik mentioned.

“Centralization of revenue by introduction of cess in petrol and diesel will weaken the centre-state fiscal balance,” the Chief Minister stated.

Banks should be made accountable to extend credit to women, farmers and MSMEs, he mentioned.

Focus on capital investment to push growth, reintroduction of developmental financial institution, allocation for COVID vaccine, industry and sector specific interventions offer hope if matched with allocation, bold decision to expand fiscal deficit to provide growth impetus and a medium and long term vision for ‘Self reliant India’ were the ‘positive points’ highlighted by the Chief Minister.

He also expressed happiness as the Union Budget turned Green with the digital budget. Worth mentioning, Odisha followed the practice of digital budget last year.

‘Mission Shakti’ was mentioned in the Union Budget 2021 focusing on women empowerment. “After Odisha’s Mamata scheme was adopted by Union Government from 2011-2012, replication of our state’s flagship women empowerment initiative ‘Mission Shakti’ clearly shows that Odisha sets a bench mark for the nation,” he stated.

“I am hopeful that after Mamata and Mission Sakti the next logical step towards women empowerment would be reservation for women in Lok Sabha and the State Assemblies. We will continue to fight for this,” he said.