PANAJI
The State government is seeking Rs 100 crore from the Centre to fund its grandiose plans of year-long celebrations across Goa and the country to mark the sixtieth year of liberation from Portuguese rule.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said, his government has officially sought Rs 100 crore from the Centre to conduct the year-long programmes both in Goa and the country.
Addressing reporters at his official Altinho residence, Sawant said Goa's rich cultural heritage will be showcased at these Goa Liberation's celebratory events.
These events will kick off from Goa Liberation Day on December 19 this year.
The chief minister however did not elaborate whether the Rs 100 crore sought from the Centre will be in the form of a grant or a borrowing, if Delhi accedes to the request.
Goa has been reeling under a severe resource crunch and for successive years has faced fiscal disruptions further accentuated by the financial onslaught of the pandemic.
Like several other States, Goa too has not received its overdue statutory share of GST compensation from the Centre and could balm its financial sores if this Rs 100 crore it is seeking for Liberation anniversary celebrations is granted.
The Union finance ministry has asked provincial governments to resort to borrowings through RBI to overcome its GST compensation disbursal default.
The RBI has also permitted States to raise their annual borrowings limits from 3 to 5 percent of their respective Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) to cover the revenue shortfalls.
Several non-BJP State governments however have resisted the option and instead have raised a major Centre-State row over the issue.
But Goa, ruled by the Sawant-led BJP, has already started resorting to additional borrowings and has even recently promulgated an Ordinance to raise the State's borrowing limit to 5 percent of GSDP.
