<p>Virudhunagar: Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu on Sunday criticised the Centre for "not releasing sufficient funds to the state despite the government's prudent management of its finances".</p>.<p>He also claimed that the state's borrowings are within the limits prescribed by the Finance Commission.</p>.<p>Minister for Finance and Environment & Climate Change said the comments made by AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami that the state finances are in the doldrums were wrong, and added that the opposition party leader should not make such comments in a public forum.</p>.Tamil Nadu Governor's speeches help DMK expose BJP: CM M K Stalin .<p>"The 15th Finance Commission in 2021-22 prescribed the borrowing limit to 28 per cent but our borrowings were at 27.01 per cent and again in 2022-23, the Finance Commission prescribed 29.3 per cent but our borrowings were at 26.87 per cent, below the limit prescribed by the Commission," Thennarasu told reporters here.</p>.<p>"Similarly for the year 2024-25, that is last year, the Finance Commission fixed the borrowings limit to 28.9 per cent but our borrowings were only at 26.47 per cent. If you see we are being prudent in managing our finances and our credits are below the prescribed norms of the Commission," he said.</p>.<p>Thennarasu pointed out that what holds significance is whether the government's borrowings meet the conditions set by the Finance Commission or not.</p>.<p>"He (Palaniswami) himself had mentioned that the government received an additional Rs 1.10 lakh crore as revenues through commercial taxes and this conveys our ability to manage our finances as we are using several technological initiatives like data analytics to maintain our financial stability," he said.</p>.<p>Referring to a series of natural calamities caused by cyclones which affected the livelihood of several people over the last two-three years, he said the state government released funds from its finances and the Centre had released only Rs 726 crore and that too Tamil Nadu's share from the State Disaster Fund.</p>.<p>"Even for the centre's Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan scheme (an integrated scheme for school education), the Centre is yet to release funds about Rs 2,000 crore. Like this, Central government is yet to release their contribution to various schemes,", he said.</p>.<p>He also flayed the BJP government stating that it has been focusing on those governments which are either run by the party or by its alliance partners. "For example, the funds released to a state like Uttar Pradesh is about Rs 31,039 crore. For Bihar, it has been Rs 17,403 crore. But if you compare them with the funds allotted to the southern states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu (which are not run by BJP or alliance parties), the entire funds released stands at Rs 27,336 crore." he said.</p>.<p>"Because of their (Central government) step-motherly treatment, state finances are getting stressed. Despite this kind of scenario, we are managing our finances," he said. Responding to a query, he insisted that the Centre should release its share of funds to the state's projects.</p>.<p>"If you are not giving funds to a growing state and focus on weaker states then a situation may come in which you cannot even help those weaker states. Centre should realise that" he cautioned.</p>.<p>Asked about Tamizhaga Vetri Kazhagam leader, actor Vijay's plan to meet on Monday the people protesting against new airport proposed at an outlay of Rs 20,000 crore at Parandur near Chennai, Thennarasu said anybody can meet them.</p>.<p>"This kind of a project (International airport in Parandur) is important for a city like Chennai as our existing airport is smaller in size as compared to those airports in Delhi, Kolkata and Bengaluru," he said.</p>.<p>"Currently, the Chennai airport handles about 2 crore passengers a year and this is expected to increase substantially over the next 10 years. To handle such an increase in passengers, a new airport is required not only to boost connectivity but also to improve the state's infrastructure," he said.</p>.<p>"The government is focused on improving the state's infrastructure and Chief Minister M K Stalin used to say regularly that though the state grows, the livelihood of the people should not be affected at any cost. Therefore, we are giving the people more than the market value of the land they have given for establishing an airport at Parandur," he said.</p>.<p>Soon after the Tamil Nadu government announced its plan to establish an airport, villagers of Ekanapuram and neighbouring villages in Parandur have been protesting against the ambitious project stating that it would affect their livelihood and demanded that the project be withdrawn. </p>
<p>Virudhunagar: Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu on Sunday criticised the Centre for "not releasing sufficient funds to the state despite the government's prudent management of its finances".</p>.<p>He also claimed that the state's borrowings are within the limits prescribed by the Finance Commission.</p>.<p>Minister for Finance and Environment & Climate Change said the comments made by AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami that the state finances are in the doldrums were wrong, and added that the opposition party leader should not make such comments in a public forum.</p>.Tamil Nadu Governor's speeches help DMK expose BJP: CM M K Stalin .<p>"The 15th Finance Commission in 2021-22 prescribed the borrowing limit to 28 per cent but our borrowings were at 27.01 per cent and again in 2022-23, the Finance Commission prescribed 29.3 per cent but our borrowings were at 26.87 per cent, below the limit prescribed by the Commission," Thennarasu told reporters here.</p>.<p>"Similarly for the year 2024-25, that is last year, the Finance Commission fixed the borrowings limit to 28.9 per cent but our borrowings were only at 26.47 per cent. If you see we are being prudent in managing our finances and our credits are below the prescribed norms of the Commission," he said.</p>.<p>Thennarasu pointed out that what holds significance is whether the government's borrowings meet the conditions set by the Finance Commission or not.</p>.<p>"He (Palaniswami) himself had mentioned that the government received an additional Rs 1.10 lakh crore as revenues through commercial taxes and this conveys our ability to manage our finances as we are using several technological initiatives like data analytics to maintain our financial stability," he said.</p>.<p>Referring to a series of natural calamities caused by cyclones which affected the livelihood of several people over the last two-three years, he said the state government released funds from its finances and the Centre had released only Rs 726 crore and that too Tamil Nadu's share from the State Disaster Fund.</p>.<p>"Even for the centre's Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan scheme (an integrated scheme for school education), the Centre is yet to release funds about Rs 2,000 crore. Like this, Central government is yet to release their contribution to various schemes,", he said.</p>.<p>He also flayed the BJP government stating that it has been focusing on those governments which are either run by the party or by its alliance partners. "For example, the funds released to a state like Uttar Pradesh is about Rs 31,039 crore. For Bihar, it has been Rs 17,403 crore. But if you compare them with the funds allotted to the southern states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu (which are not run by BJP or alliance parties), the entire funds released stands at Rs 27,336 crore." he said.</p>.<p>"Because of their (Central government) step-motherly treatment, state finances are getting stressed. Despite this kind of scenario, we are managing our finances," he said. Responding to a query, he insisted that the Centre should release its share of funds to the state's projects.</p>.<p>"If you are not giving funds to a growing state and focus on weaker states then a situation may come in which you cannot even help those weaker states. Centre should realise that" he cautioned.</p>.<p>Asked about Tamizhaga Vetri Kazhagam leader, actor Vijay's plan to meet on Monday the people protesting against new airport proposed at an outlay of Rs 20,000 crore at Parandur near Chennai, Thennarasu said anybody can meet them.</p>.<p>"This kind of a project (International airport in Parandur) is important for a city like Chennai as our existing airport is smaller in size as compared to those airports in Delhi, Kolkata and Bengaluru," he said.</p>.<p>"Currently, the Chennai airport handles about 2 crore passengers a year and this is expected to increase substantially over the next 10 years. To handle such an increase in passengers, a new airport is required not only to boost connectivity but also to improve the state's infrastructure," he said.</p>.<p>"The government is focused on improving the state's infrastructure and Chief Minister M K Stalin used to say regularly that though the state grows, the livelihood of the people should not be affected at any cost. Therefore, we are giving the people more than the market value of the land they have given for establishing an airport at Parandur," he said.</p>.<p>Soon after the Tamil Nadu government announced its plan to establish an airport, villagers of Ekanapuram and neighbouring villages in Parandur have been protesting against the ambitious project stating that it would affect their livelihood and demanded that the project be withdrawn. </p>