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Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday strongly refuted allegations made by certain Ministers in Tamil Nadu that the Centre did not provide required funds to the State. In the last 10 years, the Centre had provided ₹7-lakh crore to Tamil Nadu for implementing various welfare schemes.
The Centre does not discriminate between States and have disbursed funds that’s due to the States, she said while inaugurating the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra van in Chennai. She also gave data on the funds released to TN from GST collections.
The Minister said from 2014 to 2023-24, the tax sharing to Tamil Nadu was ₹2.88-lakh crore and grants-in-aid was ₹2.58- lakh crore. While the direct tax collection (income tax and corporate tax) from Tamil Nadu between 2014 and 2023 was ₹6.23-lakh crore, the Centre had disbursed to the State ₹6.96-lakh crore during this period, she said.
In addition, Tamil Nadu got its share out of the GST collections. In 2022-23, the SGST component for Tamil Nadu was ₹36,353 crore. Post Covid, the State received a special assistance for capex to the tune of ₹6,412 crore, she added.
The Minister explained that out of the the cess collected by the Centre, ₹37,965 crore was allocated to the State to implement National Highways projects; ₹11,116 crore for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan: ₹3,637 crore for rural roads and ₹4,739 crore for housing scheme.
The FM stated that various central government schemes are continuously serving the people and reaching the last mile, including Tamil Nadu.
Centre’s schemes
Under Jan Dhan Yojana with over 1.5 crore beneficiaries, 58 per cent are women from Tamil Nadu. This includes 9.25 lakh beneficiaries in Chennai, of which 61 per cent are women.
Under PM MUDRA Yojana, loans worth ₹26-lakh crore have been disbursed to around 44 crore beneficiaries across India. In Tamil Nadu, loans worth ₹2.67-lakh crore have been disbursed to around 5.2 crore beneficiaries. In Chennai alone, loans worth ₹16,330 crore have been disbursed to around 20.6 lakh beneficiaries, she said.
The Centre has also given emphasis to development of infrastructure in Tamil Nadu. For instance, Vande Bharat trains are manufactured indigenously at Integral Coach Factory, Perambur, Chennai and four Vande Bharat trains have been operationalised in Chennai.
In April 2023, the Prime Minister inaugurated the New Integrated Terminal Building (Phase- 1) of Chennai International Airport, developed at the cost of ₹1,260 crore. A total length of 54.1 km of Chennai Metro rail has been operationalised since 2014, and 118.9 km is under construction. These are from the funds provided by the Centre, she said.
In addition, the Chennai-Bangalore Expressway work is underway at the cost of ₹50,000 crore; the 150-km East Coast Road expansion work is being undertaken at a cost of ₹3,000 crore; the Chennai Bengaluru Industrial Corridor under development and Chennai is among the five nodes of the Tamil Nadu Defence Corridor, she added.
In November 2023, Prime Minister flagged off the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra, which is reaching the farthest corners of the country and ensuring that social welfare initiatives of the government reach every individual in the nation. The yatra has so far reached more than 9 crore people across the nation, she said.
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