Sukhu to meet Nirmala Sitaraman – Centres reduce borrowing limit of Himachal by Rs 5000 Cr
Narendra Modi government at the centre reduced the borrowing limit of Himachal Pradesh by Rs 5000 Crore cutting down it from Rs 14000 Crore per annum to Rs 9000 Cr.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu was today scheduled to meet with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman in New Delhi.
Mr Sukhu who was addressing an OPS rally at Dharmshala on Sunday told media persons that the Centre is doing step-motherly treatment with Himachal Pradesh as recently it reduced the annual borrowing limit from Rs 14000 Cr to Rs 9000 Cr which is Rs 5000 Cr.
He said that the state is pressing the centre to release the amount of Rs 9242.60 Cr deposited under the New Pension System with the Pension Fund Regulatory Development Authority (PFRDA). Himachal Pradesh is virtually forced to beg before the centre to release the amount but Modi Government is discriminating against the state which is an attack on federalism, the Chief Minister told a media person on the sideline of the OPS Abhar rally.
It is not the first time when state government pressed the centre to release the said amount but recently Himachal flagged this issue during (NITI ) Ayog meeting urging the Centre for issuing directions to the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) to return the amount of Rs 9,242.60 crore deposited under the New Pension Scheme (NPS) by the State Government.
The chief minister also requested the union government not to reduce the previous year’s deposit of Rs 1,779 crore under NPS to the borrowing ceiling of the current financial year i.e. 2023-24 and also to review the decision taken on 27th March 2023.
During the Covid pandemic Centre has allowed the state to exceed the borrowing limit beyond the FRBM ceiling but from these finical years centre had reduced the state borrowing limit and also stopped the additional Central assistance tunes to hundreds of Crore as GST compensation.
The relationship of non BJP government with the BJP government in North India is taking ugly turns as recently the State of Haryana is trying to oppose the state government’s decision to levy Generation Tax on the state hydropower project.
Recently Centre had also written a protest letter to Himachal Pradesh to not levy Generation Tax as it is against the law as power and water couldn’t be taxed by any state.
Mr Sukhu also met with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in New Delhi on Sunday evening as the latter is trying to galvanise opposition following the union government’s overnight ordinance to clip the wings of the AAP government by capturing Administrative control on NCR.
State Government press release said that two non-BJP leaders and the Chief Minister discussed various common issues between both states.
Chief Minister discussed electric supply for the upcoming Bulk Drug Park in Una district with the support of the Bhakra Beas Management Board.
He also discussed water sharing agreements of the Renuka and Kishau hydro projects and their speedy completion.
Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that high-level discussions will be held for the Memorandum of Understanding between Delhi and Himachal Pradesh governments regarding Yamuna river water sharing.
Chief Secretary, Prabodh Saxena and Principal Private Secretary to the CM, Vivek Bhatia also accompanied the Chief Minister on the occasion.
