Bhubaneswar: The state government is expectant of getting a bigger share for development in infrastructures in the Union Budget for 2020-21 to be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament Saturday.
“We are eying to get higher allocation for railways, national highways and other infrastructural sectors in comparison to last year,” said state Transport and Commerce Minister Padmanabha Behera.
In an attempt to overcome the prevailing economic slowdown, it is expected that the Centre will spend `1 lakh crore for development of infrastructure. Therefore, the state government eying to get a major share for construction of more number of projects in Odisha, a senior official of Finance department said here Friday.
The government is hoping to get more than `6,000 crore for development of railways in Odisha. Higher allocation is also expected for building of new NHs and schemes like Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).
The state is also eying on recommendation of the 15th Finance Commission, whether the Commission has maintained a status quo for now, by recommending that the devolution of the divisible tax pool to states be kept at the existing 42 per cent for 2020-21. If it will be reduced, it may put additional burden on state exchequer, the official said.
Speculation is rife that the Centre may revise the shares in Central Sponsored Schemes (CSS). The state government is keeping a close eye on any development on the issue.