CHENNAI: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday hit out at the state government’s allegations that the union government is not disbursing funds or settling its share and said the centre is not hostile to Tamil Nadu, Kerala or any state.
Giving out statistics at Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra programme here, Sitharaman said, “From 2014 to 2023, the union government received Rs 6.23 lakh crore as direct tax (income tax and corporate tax) from Tamil Nadu but gave back Rs 6.96 lakh crore to the state during the same period. It is wrong to assume that Rs 6.23 lakh crore is paid only by the people of Tamil Nadu. Among them were Hindi-speaking tax assessees.”
She said the union government has been giving back the cess, tax or even GST collected from TN and in addition providing additional funds. The centre has settled dues amounting to about Rs 81,645 crore pending since 1996-97 to all states and Tamil Nadu’s share in it was Rs 3,225 crore.
She said about Rs 57,557 crore was obtained by way of cess and surcharge from Tamil Nadu from 2014 till date. “Of the sum, Rs 37,965 crore was disbursed to construct NHAI roads, Rs 11,116 crore from education cess for Samagra Shiksha overarching programme for school education, Rs 4,839 crore for Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) and Rs 3,637 crore for rural roads scheme in the state.
Of the Rs 36,353.12 crore collected as GST from Tamil Nadu in 2022-23, the centre released the entire sum to the state, and in addition, provided 41% from the Rs 27,360 crore CGST collection. We have given GST entirely to the state governments without discrimination,” Sitharaman said.
The union finance minister said the Finance Commission decides on the sum to be given to each state. The amount is disbursed on a monthly basis and in certain cases, advance payment is made, she added. She handed over cheques to beneficiaries under various central government schemes at the event.