Harish Rao asks Union FM to release pending amounts to Telangana

Telangana State Finance Minister T. Harish Rao on Friday wrote a letter to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman requesting the release of pending amounts to the State.

In the letter, Rao wrote, “In the year 2018-19, IGST amount of Rs. 13,944 crore was left unapportioned and retained in the Consolidated Fund of India. The share of Telangana in this unapportioned amount works out to Rs. 352 crore”. The estimated amount received by the State through tax devolution is Rs. 142 crore leaving a balance of Rs. 210 crore, he added.

Regarding the grants, Rao said, “The grant for the year 2019-20 is yet to be



released”.

Raising the issue of special grant based on the 15th Finance Commission’s recommendations, Rao said “This grant was recommended on the ground that the estimated tax devolution to the State in 2020-21 was lower than that in 2019-20”. “In the interest of maintaining the tradition and sanctity of the Finance Commission’s recommendation, I am confident that the decision not to give the grant will be reconsidered”, he added.

It may be mentioned that the 15th Finance Commission has changed the criteria for horizontal tax devolution. Due to the change, some states receive less amounts than earlier years.