THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Finance Minister K N Balagopal on Thursday brushed aside the UDF
allegation that Keraleeyam was a financial extravaganza and said the seven-day event was organized to showcase before the world the achievement of the state and the commercial and industrial opportunities it provides.
"We have to showcase the good things about Kerala. We also have to discuss several issues that the state is facing. The unilateral attack of the opposition parties against Keraleeyam is not desirable," he said.
Balagopal said the state government is not splurging money on Keraleeyam and the lionshare of expenses are borne by various organizations since it's a big project.
He added that the government is planning to make Keraleeyam a mega trade fair and an international summit in the future and that is a big investment for Kerala.
On the question of the state's financial woes, he said the state's own tax revenue has increased by 50 percent compared to the taxes collected from 1956 November to 2021 March. During that period the own
tax revenue generated was 47000 crore, which rose to 71000 crore during the next two years ( 2021 March- 2023 March).
He reckoned that the state was facing financial difficulties, but attributed the responsibility of that to the centre saying it had downsized the revenue sharing.
According to the minister, the share from the central government's divisive pool three years ago was 45 percent, which fell to 35 per cent in 2022 and 29 per cent this year.
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