The Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday had two specific announcements for the State — Chennai-Bengaluru Expressway and development of Adichanallur as an iconic site.
However, it did not have announcements pertaining to requests that Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister O. Panneerselvam had made during the pre-Budget meeting.
The Deputy Chief Minister had sought funds for the Godavari-Cauvery linking scheme and phase-II of Chennai Metro.
Funds were also sought for the Nadanthai Vazhi Cauvery project to rejuvenate the river and its tributaries.
The Hindu last month reported that the Centre was unlikely to fund this project.
Constitutional obligation
Mr. Panneerselvam had pointed out that the Centre was constitutionally obliged to pay GST compensation to the States.
On the positive side, the Union Finance Minister said that the compensation dues for 2016-17 and 2017-18 would be paid in two instalments out of the collections.
Revenue share
According to the Budget Estimates for 2020-21, Tamil Nadu will get ₹32,849.34 crore as share of net proceeds from taxes and duties. Of this, the share of Central GST has been pegged at ₹9,942.63 crore.
The State will get ₹10,104.36 crore from the Corporation Tax and ₹9,395.25 crore from Income Tax.
The State’s share of central excise duty is ₹1,339.60 crore and Customs is ₹2,050.31 crore, according to Budget Estimates for 2020-21.
Estimates revised
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu will get ₹26,392.40 crore as share of net proceeds for central taxes and duties for 2019-20, which was revised downward from ₹32,551.42 crore estimated in last year’s Budget.
The Budget makes a mention of overhauling centrally-sponsored schemes and central sector schemes. Any major changes implemented could hurt the State finances.
Mr. Panneerselvam had sought payment of dues under various schemes.
The exact details of what Tamil Nadu gets under various schemes is not yet clear. The State is likely to benefit from the announcement of a scheme to boost manufacture of mobile phones, electronic equipment and semi-conductor packaging and medical devices.
Thrust on infrastructure, affordable housing, tourism, agriculture and aim to end manual scavenging through adoption of suitable technologies will also benefit the State.
