New Delhi, Feb 7 (UNI) Dismissing Congress-ruled Karnataka's claims of discrimination in sharing central taxes, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday asserted that the state has received additional funds over and above its share from the central pool of taxes.
"Claims by the Government of Karnataka of discrimination in sharing central taxes are patently wrong and mischievous. There are factual errors, false monetary claims, misleading statements, and selective mention of certain losses allegedly suffered without mentioning of the gains that have accrued to the state in the 15th Finance Commission (FC) period," the Minister said here today.
The Minister said that devolution of taxes and grants to Karnataka and all other states have been done as per FC awards with no discrimination whatsoever. Further, she claimed that Karnataka has ignored central funds of Rs 12,476 crores (Assistance for Capital investment and Disaster Relief) released during the 15th FC period in its calculations.
As per Finance Ministry, tax devolution (net proceeds of Union taxes and duties) from Government of India to Karnataka has been Rs 2,85,452 crore during 2014-24 (till the latest release on 10 Jan 2024), an increase of 250% or 3.5 times compared to 2004-14 (UPA government).
The Minister said that it shows the commitment of the central government to strengthen Karnataka and help accelerate its capital and developmental expenditure.
Sitharaman said that despite the exceptional circumstances arising from the pandemic which depressed Central revenues, Government of Karnataka will be getting substantially more as devolution during the first five years of the 15th FC period than in the 14th FC period.
She noted that formulation for tax devolution is done under the Constitutional mandate given to Finance Commissions and is done after wide ranging consultations with all states.
Sitharaman said that Grants-in-Aid to Karnataka have increased substantially compared to the 10 years of UPA and Rs 2,08,832.02 crore have already been released between 2014-23 as compared to Rs 60,779.84 crore released between 2004-14.
She stated that additional Grants-in-Aid of Rs 18,005 crore has been budgeted for release in the current financial year 2023-24 taking the total ‘Grants in Aid’ to Rs 226,837 crores.
The Minister claimed that Karnataka has projected a massive false claim of GST compensation dues. Further it was stated that there is no GST compensation amount due to Karnataka.
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