Tamil Nadu expected to see almost the same level of growth: Finance Minister

The next GST meeting would be in Madurai

Minister for Finance and Human Resource Management Palanivel Thiaga Rajan speaks during a press conference in Coimbatore on February 28, 2023. | Photo Credit: Siva Saravanan S

Tamil Nadu is expected to see almost the same growth this year as that of last year, said Minister for Finance and Human Resources Management Palanivel Thiaga Rajan here on Tuesday.

The Minister told presspersons that the revenue deficit when the DMK government took over was ₹62,000 crore and financial deficit was nearly ₹90,000 crore. Between 2003 and 2014, irrespective of the government that was in power in the States, the financial situation grew every year.

The ratio of debt to production and interest to revenue reduced every year. But after that, there was a decline. Now, in one year since the DMK government took over, the revenue deficit decreased by ₹16,000 crore and financial deficit reduced to almost ₹76,000 crore. More steps should be taken gradually to streamline the economy.

In the case of GST, the Union Finance Minister said recently that arrears till 2020-2021 were cleared and the State would receive ₹ 4,230 crore. Another ₹ 3,000-₹4, 500 crore compensation was likely pending and there were delays in getting monthly releases.

The system of the Centre collecting the taxes and distributing it to the States was inefficient. The next GST meeting would be in Madurai and the State would place suggestions to the GST Council (to make it more efficient).

On the Adani issue, he said several issues were raised in the past too in Parliament but no action was taken.

Regarding skill development, he said it was crucial. The industrial training institutes were not scaled up to adequate level to meet the complex technical requirements of the industry. The government had reviewed the situation and was greatly expanding the platform.

“There was a profound gap between the level of skill workmanship we need and the ability of the State to provide it.” The government was taking several steps to bridge this gap. It was also working with the German Consulate for cross certification so that successful skilled candidates find it easy to get jobs in German companies.

When asked about the alleged irregularities at New Tiruppur Area Development Corporation, he said investigations and audits were on.