Hyderabad: Harish Rao urges Nirmala to release State dues

Hyderabad: Finance Minister T Harish Rao on Saturday urged Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman to release the dues of the State government under various schemes including releasing Rs 495.2 crore under the centrally sponsored schemes (CSS), which were mistakenly transferred to Andhra Pradesh in 2014-15, the first year of the formation of the State.

As per the previous practice, the entire Centre's share was released to Andhra Pradesh by oversight, though it was apportioned in the ratio of population between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The share of Telangana wrongly released to Andhra Pradesh amounted to Rs 495.2 crore. Though the matter was taken up with the Government of Andhra Pradesh and the Accountant General, the amount was yet to be adjusted to Telangana, he said.

Harish Rao asked the Centre for the early release of grants under Section 94(2) of the AP Re-organisation Act for the development of backward areas for the years 2019-20 and the current year, amounting to Rs 900 crore. "The yearly grant of Rs 450 crore sanctioned by the Centre falls short of the requirement of Rs 30,751 crore and the amount of Rs 24,205 crore recommended by NITI Aayog. In addition to the release of Rs 900 crores, I earnestly request that the grant may be extended for five years beyond 2021-22," said Rao.

The minister said that Centre denied Fourteenth Finance Commission grants to local bodies amounting to Rs 817.61 crore including Rs 315.32 Crore for rural local bodies and Rs 502.29 crore for urban local bodies. Though the State has fulfilled all the conditions, these grants were denied without any specific reason, he said.

A special grant of Rs 723 crore recommended by the Fifteenth Finance Commission for the year 2020-21 as the tax devolution for the State was projected to decline in absolute terms in 2020-21 as compared with 2019-20. Grants recommended by the Finance Commission were never denied in the past.

The minister also urged the Centre to release the IGST settlement dues amounting to Rs 210 crore, which was the due share of Telangana in the IGST amount of Rs 13,944 crore transferred by the Centre to the Consolidated Fund of India in the year 2018-19.