Watch: Odisha demands Rs 12.59 lakh crore from 16th Finance Commission

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government Thursday placed a demand of Rs 12.59 lakh crore before the 16th Finance Commission.

The demands were placed before the 16th Finance Commission team led by its chairman Aravind Panagariya at a meeting with the Odisha government team led by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi here.

Giving a breakup of the state’s demand of Rs 12.59 lakh crore, Majhi said Odisha sought Rs 9,88,422 crore as the pre-devolution revenue deficit, Rs 1,10,434 crore towards state-specific bodies, Rs 1,00,036 crore towards grant to local bodies, Rs 31,004 crore for SDRF and Rs 29,252 crore towards State Disaster Mitigation Fund.

The commission is on a four-day visit to the state.

Different states will get grants from the Centre based on the recommendation of the 16th Finance Commission.

“We have demanded Rs 12,59,148 crore for the next five years from 2026 to 2031. Odisha government has also demanded enhancement of the state’s share in central devolution pool to 50 per cent from the existing 41 per cent,” Majhi told reporters.

He said the state also asked the Finance Commission to make provision for a 100 per cent grant under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) from the Centre and to increase the state’s share in central tax from 4.528 per cent to 4.964 per cent.

The CM said earlier the Centre contributed 75 per cent of the SDRF while the state takes the burden of the remaining 25 per cent. However, this time, Odisha has demanded a 100 per cent grant for SDRF as the state is disaster-prone and often affected due to cyclones, floods and other such calamities, he said.

Majhi also demanded a fixed 2 per cent share of the Centre’s revenue for urban local bodies and Panchayati Raj institutions. He said the demands are made keeping in view the state’s goal of emerging as one of the top five states in India by 2036 when Odisha will complete 100 years of its formation as a separate state.

PTI