The Newz Radar
SHIMLA: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi on Wednesday and sought restoration of the state’s borrowing limit that has been slashed by Rs 5,500 crore, down from Rs 14,500 crore to Rs 9,000 crore.
Sources said Chief Minister Sukhu sought Sitharaman’s personal intervention in the matter and presented facts related to the case. Among others, Sukhu was accompanied by Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena. The Chief Minister also sought the release of the National Pension Scheme (NPS) contribution of the state government employees, which comes out to be around Rs 9,500 crore. The government has been seeking its refund as it had restored old pension scheme for employees.
Himachal suffered a major setback as the Centre reduced its borrowing limit by Rs 5,500 crore. Chief Minister Sukhu expressed his disappointment over the decision, stating that the cut had come merely five months after the Congress government took charge in the state.
Sukhu said that apart from the reduction in borrowing limit, the state had also been deprived of the matching grant for the National Pension Scheme (NPS). In March, the state received Rs 1,780 crore from the Central government for the NPS, but that funding had now been discontinued.
The CM also raised concerns regarding the state’s share of royalty on power projects. He argued that the share of royalty should be increased from 30 to 50 per cent, especially considering the prolonged extension of royalty-free periods for power projects by the previous government. The state is already grappling with a financial crisis, and Sukhu believes that an increase in royalty for debt-free power projects would help alleviate the situation.
