Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Monday welcomed the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. He, however, expressed his reservations on the cess.
Mr. Palaniswami, in a statement, urged the Centre to immediately disburse 50% of funds for the Chennai Metro Rail second phase project and accord approval for Metro Rail projects in Coimbatore and Madurai.
He welcomed the announcement of laying 3,500 km of national highways in the State. The Madurai-Kollam and Chittoor-Thatchur roads will boost growth, he said and assured the Centre of State’s cooperation in implementing the projects.
Mr. Palaniswami sought a textile park in the southern districts and one in Salem. As for the cess on fuel, he expressed reservations saying it would reduce Tamil Nadu’s share in tax revenues and said the Finance Minister must consider the plea of State governments and revert to the old position on this.
OPS lauds hike in ceiling
Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam, who holds the Finance portfolio, said Ms. Sitharaman had fulfilled many requests from Tamil Nadu and has announced a number of schemes to revive the economy. He hailed the increase in the fiscal deficit ceiling to 4% of GSDP, and an additional 0.5% increase in the borrowing limit for States. He welcomed the extension of Ujjwala scheme to 100 more districts, higher allocation for irrigation and establishment of seaweed park in the State, among others.
‘Anti-poor, anti-citizen’
TNCC president K.S. Alagiri termed it an anti-poor and anti-citizen Budget. He said the government’s move to increase FDI limit in the insurance sector from 49% to 74% would destroy the Life Insurance Corporation of India. “There is no proposal in the Budget that protects micro, small and medium enterprises, nor is there anything for agriculture. The government has not taken any effort to alleviate the pain of poor people through any direct cash transfer or increasing the amount of money they have in their hands to increase spending and spur economic growth,” he said.
Vaiko slams announcement
MDMK general secretary Vaiko said the announcement that the Chennai-Salem eight-lane expressway would be implemented despite strong opposition from the people was highly condemnable. He said that it was disappointing that there are no new railway routes announced in Tamil Nadu. and that the government is continuing to privatise banks, insurance companies.
Fulfills expectations: Vasan
TMC president G.K. Vasan said the Budget was focussed on the overall development and fulfilled the expectations of the people, especially in Tamil Nadu.
AMMK happy
Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) general secretary T.T.V. Dhinakaran on Monday said the Budget had provided “some amount of happiness” and “much room for concern.” He welcomed the move of the Centre to take up works over 3,500 km on National Highways, including Madurai-Kollam corridor; develop Chennai fishing harbour into a hub of economic activity; establish a multipurpose seaweed park and allocate ₹63,246 crore for the phase II of the Chennai Metro Rail project and wanted expeditious execution of all the projects. He lauded the move to give social security cover to platform workers and extend Ujjwala Scheme to 1 crore more beneficiaries.
At the same time, Mr. Dhinakaran said it was not proper for the Centre to go ahead with the implementation of Chennai-Salem corridor project, despite a strong opposition. He identified reforms in the area of power distribution, hike in the limit of foreign direct investment to 74% and the privatisation of public sector banks as areas of concern. “There is an element of apprehension among all that these measures will lead to disastrous consequences,” he said.
Allowing the private sector in the field of power distribution might pave the way for taking away the scheme of free power for farmers and concessions in tariff for domestic consumers, apart from “killing” the government-run distribution companies. While dispensing with the need for filing income tax returns by senior citizens, he wanted the ceiling to be lowered from 75 years to 65 years. No change in the personal income tax slab had caused “disappointment” among the middle class, the AMMK leader added.
