Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, while appreciating the decisions taken in the Union Budget, expressed concern over the announcement of reduced share in Central taxes.
“Odisha would be badly hit by drastic reduction of share in the Central taxes by about Rs 10,840 crore for the current year. As per the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission, the horizontal share of the State will decrease from 4.6 per cent to 4.528 per cent for the coming five years. “This will seriously impact the State,” Naveeen said.
He further said capital investments are very much required in Odisha, in railway as well as highway sectors, as has been planned for other states.
There is also a need to increase allocation in social assistance programmes and quantum of transfers for local bodies, he added and said
“Centralisation of revenue by introduction of cess in petrol and diesel will weaken the centre-state fiscal balance.
For this, the banks have to be made accountable to extend credit to women, farmers and MSMEs, the CM said.
On a positive note he stated that he was happy to observe how the Union Budget has turned green with digital budget, a measure that Odisha has been following from last year.
Also Read: Union-budget-2021-what-odisha-wants-from-finance-minister/
