PANDURANG GAONKAR
PANAJI
Goa has officially placed its claim for a share of Rs 5,598-crore from the Centre, including additional compensatory funding to off-set losses to the State due to the new GST regime, in its submissions before the 15th Finance Commission.
Sources in the State finance ministry said, the consolidated figure includes Rs 2000 crores for Public Infrastructure development and developing a network for water distribution, another Rs 330 crores for development of tourism infrastructure, besides tourists’ and coastal security.
Also figuring in the list is the demand for Rs 2,052 crores for the power sector to achieve 100 per-cent underground cabling of power lines in coastal areas and Rs 1120 to develop non-conventional energy generation and development besides solid waste management.
Meanwhile, the demand for additional funds from the Centre to make up for the losses in revenue due to the implementation of the new GST regime figured prominently in the State government’s document submitted to the Commission, the sources said.
The State has also put forward a demand with the Finance Commission to consider giving assistance to the grassroot level self-governing bodies such as the panchayats and municipalities.
Broadly, Goa has cited the principle that 50 per-cent of Central taxes collected from Goa should be ploughed back in the State’s development, the finance ministry source said.
Under the current revenue sharing pattern, Goa gets around 42 percent share of the Central taxes mopped up in the State.
Meanwhile, the document also devotes a section which makes ‘special demands’ for funds to shoulder the responsibility to combat environmental and climate change, emergency rescue systems and to stregthen grassroot level statistical systems.
The state has also demanded Rs 100 crores to increase
the capacity of the Saligao waste treatment plant from 100 tonnes to 250 tonnes and another Rs 300-crore to construct more waste treatment plants at Baiguinim and
Verna.
A total Rs 900 crores has been sought for setting up waste treatment plants in the entire State, according to the document.
The 15th Finance Commission is slated to submit its report recommending principles for revenue sharing between the Centre and States to the Narendra Modi government by October end this year.
The document has also listed future projections, particularly in the tourism sector, to back up its claims for the funds.
By 2030, the annual tourist footfall is estimated to cross 1.47 million which is five times more than Goa’s resident population, the document said, adding that commensurate water requirements needed to be put in place by augmenting the the existing infrastructure.
A specific Rs 372 crores has been sought to increase the 532 MLD water treatment capacity by an additional 172 MLD.
Another Rs 1232 crores is needed to ensure 24x7 water supply in the State, the document reasons. In all Rs 1604 crores has been sought for the protable water supply system.
Between power and water, a demand of Rs 2004 crores is mentioned to maintain distribution networks.
The electricity cabling network in the state is around 13,614 kilometers of which just about 14 per-cent (1,813 Kilometers) is underground. The State needs around Rs 2050 crores to convert the remaining power transmission and distribution network from overhead to underground, the document submitted to the Commission says.
Another specific project cited in the document to justify demand for more funding from the Centre under the central tax revenue-sharing module include a Rs 50-crore Panchayat Bhavan.
