Chief Minister Sai sought special grant for Chhattisgarh from Central Finance Commission

Raipur. Chief Minister Vishnu Dev Sai, in a meeting with the 16th Finance Commission, which was on a visit to Chhattisgarh today, requested to give special grant to Chhattisgarh keeping in mind the special conditions and needs of the state. The Chief Minister said that Chhattisgarh is a new state, which is tribal dominated, surrounded by difficult geographical conditions and is affected by Maoism. More financial resources will be required to bring Chhattisgarh at par with developed states.

16th Finance Commission Chairman Dr. Arvind Panagariya, Deputy Chief Ministers Arun Sao and Vijay Sharma, Finance Minister O.P. Choudhary, Agriculture Minister Ramvichar Netam, Food Minister Dayaldas Baghel, Water Resources Minister Kedar Kashyap, Industry Minister Lakhanlal Devangan, Health Minister Shyam Bihari Jaiswal, Women and Child Development Minister Laxmi Rajwade, Revenue Minister Tankaram Verma, Finance Commission members Ajay Narayan Jha, Annie George Mathew, Dr. Manoj Panda, Dr. Saumya Kanti Ghosh, Secretary Ritwik Pandey and members of the team were present in the meeting.

In the meeting, Chief Minister Vishnu Dev Sai said that development work is being done rapidly in Maoist affected areas, and effective action is being taken to curb Maoism. Due to difficult geographical conditions in these areas, there is an additional expenditure burden in infrastructure development works. Under the Niyada Nellnar Scheme, work is being done to ensure basic facilities like education, health, road, electricity, water in these areas.

Chief Minister Shri Sai said that if the Central Finance Commission recommends more financial assistance to the state, then certainly public welfare works can be done on a large scale in backward areas. He said that the country is rapidly becoming an economic superpower and Chhattisgarh is also working hard for this. We will build a developed Chhattisgarh along with a developed India. We expect the Central Finance Commission to provide more financial assistance to implement our vision of Chhattisgarh.

The Chief Minister said that due to difficult geographical conditions in the state, we have to bear additional expenditure burden due to increase in cost and time limit of rail, road, telecommunication, energy, irrigation projects. We have to spend additional funds to deal with the damage caused to the environment and the health related side effects on people due to mining activities. He said that due to the GST consumption and destination based tax system, the actual benefit of mining activities is not going to Chhattisgarh but to those states where value-addition of minerals is taking place and minerals are being consumed.

The Chief Minister said that at the time of formation of Chhattisgarh in the year 2000, this state started with a small economy of only Rs 29 thousand 539 crore. In the year 2023-24, the state has achieved the target of GSDP of Rs 5 lakh 9 thousand crore. In the coming five years, we are moving ahead with the goal of doubling the size of GSDP. The Chief Minister said that in such schemes which are being operated with the contribution of the Central Government and the State Government, the ratio of the amount received from the Central Government should be increased.

Central Finance Commission Chairman Dr. Arvind Panagariya praised the pace of economic progress of Chhattisgarh and said that the state is progressing rapidly. Nava Raipur has been settled in a very beautiful and systematic manner. Chhattisgarh is a very beautiful state. To fulfill the resolve of making a developed India and a developed Chhattisgarh, emphasis will have to be laid on manufacturing units. He said that in Chhattisgarh, economic growth and social indices have improved rapidly along with fiscal stability. Chhattisgarh is an emerging and rapidly growing state. He said that regarding making Chhattisgarh a developed state, the biggest resource here is manpower. Who will have to be made skilled for manufacturing and service sector.

Finance Minister Shri O.P. Choudhary, while giving a presentation on the financial scenario of the state, said that Nava Raipur is being developed as a green smart city. More resources should be received from the Center for infrastructure development here. He said that Chhattisgarh is following financial discipline as per the prescribed parameters and will continue it in future also. We are trying to eliminate leakage by using modern technology in the tax system. The Finance Minister gave important suggestions about the parameters of sharing of taxes between the Center and the states by the Central Finance Commission. Deputy Chief Ministers and Ministers also requested to provide more resources while giving information about the schemes related to their departments before the Finance Commission.

Chief Secretary Amitabh Jain gave the welcome address. Director General of Police Ashok Juneja gave a presentation on the requirements of resources for the police force and NRDA Chief Executive Officer Saurabh Kumar gave a presentation on the requirements of resources for the projects of Nava Raipur.