Union Budget: Kerala receives raw deal; 'PM Gati Sakti' fund only relief; K-Rail finds no mention

Thiruvananthapuram/New Delhi: The Union Budget presented in Parliament on Tuesday has been widely perceived as a dampener for Kerala. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman did not consider any of the demands put forward by Kerala such as raising of GST compensation, raising of loan limit and sanctioning of the SilverLine Project to build a rail corridor to run semi high-speed trains.

The only solace is that the Central Government hiked the amount meant for infrastructure development in the States to Rs 1 lakh crore in the next financial year from Rs 18,000 crore this year. If the State Government is keen it can appropriate a portion of this fund. Though the State can implement projects worth Rs 3,000 crore using this fund, the Central Government's directive is that the State should ensure that such projects are in line with the "PM Gati Sakti - National Master Plan for Multimodal Connectivity" package.

If necessary, permission can be sought for the SilverLine project by bringing it under the "PM Gati Sakti" package. Of the total Rs 63,940 crore meant for the SilverLine Project, the State Government had sought only Rs 2150 crore as the Central assistance as per the Detailed Project Report (DPR). The State Government should also receive from the Railways land worth Rs 975 crore for implementing this rail corridor project.

The Union Budget allocated Rs 450 crore for post-flood reconstruction work in Kerala. Constructions carried out using this fund should have the capacity to withstand future floods.

Since the Union Cabinet had not approved the Rs 1,975.05 crore fund announced last time for the second stage of the Kochi Metro work, no additional fund for the work was announced this time.

CM's response

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan alleged that this year's Union Budget would lead to the weakening of the finances of the States instead of strengthening it financially during the COVID-19 crisis.

What gets costly

Umbrella, imported headphone and earphone, loudspeaker, smart meter, imitation jewellery, solar cell, solar module, X-ray machine, electronic toy components, parts imported for production of sandals, dress material etc.

What will be cheaper

Cut and polished diamond, gem; methanol, acetic acid, mobile phone charger, mobile phone camera lens etc.

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