The West Bengal Finance Minister, Mr Amit Mitra, today called on the Union Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, to seek a special package for the state, but talks remained inconclusive.

“Discussions are going on. When discussions will complete, we will speak to the Chief Minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee”, Mitra told reporters after the meeting.

The Mamata Banerjee Government has been demanding a special package in the form of interest moratorium. Ms Banerjee, whose party is a crucial constituent of the UPA, had herself raised the issue with the Prime Minister. She even issued a veiled threat to the Centre.

The State Government has a debt of about Rs 2 lakh crore and its current annual outgo towards interest payments is around Rs 22,000 crore.

Mr Mukherjee, during a debate in the Rajya Sabha in May, said that West Bengal would have received the relief, had it enacted the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) law in 2005, as was suggested by the 12th Finance Commission.

West Bengal, however, passed the FRBM Act only in 2011. “Due to delayed enactment of the fiscal responsibility legislation, the state could not avail of total relief of Rs 3,157.90 crore during 2005 to 2010 on account of debt relief, relief on interest payment a debt waiver, on outstanding government of India loans,” the Comptroller Auditor General (CAG) report said.

The Centre has already set up a committee to look into problems being faced by three debt-stressed states - West Bengal, Punjab and Kerala.

Mr Mukherjee had also said in Parliament that he could not give preferential treatment to the state even though he himself belongs to it.

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