Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi and sought his support to meet the shortfall of Rs 2,200 crore for the 2020-21 fiscal under the XVth Finance Commission, media reports said citing official sources in Agartala.
Tripura has been facing a resource crunch due to non-availability of the Finance Commission’s award on time. Besides, the State has not received GST returns from the Centre, complicating its fragile fiscal position. The COVID-19 pandemic has also given a body blow to the economy of the State.
During the meeting last evening, the Chief Minister submitted a wishlist to the Prime Minister, seeking his intervention to release the balance fund of about Rs 650 crore from the Ministry of Finance for completion of the ongoing development projects amounting to Rs 1,000 crore.
The issue of funding of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at West Jalefa in South Tripura district also came up for discussion in the meeting. Deb requested the Prime Minister to fund the SEZ under trade infrastructure for export scheme of the Union Ministry of Commerce. He also urged the Prime Minister to expedite the DPR preparation for setting up a logistics hub at Sabroom through Asian Development Bank funding.
Briefing the Prime Minister on the State’s grim economic condition, the Chief Minister urged Modi to remove the moratorium on new proposals for externally-aided projects by the Department of Economic Affairs, media reports added.