It is not right to seek more funds from Centre: Gujarat Finance Minister

BENGALURU: Even as several states were requesting Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to release more funds for infrastructure development, Gujarat Finance Minister Saurabhbhai Patel today said his state does not expect any more financial resources from the Centre as the 14th Finance Commission has devolved higher funds to the states.

"If you look at the 14th Finance Commission, for the first time in independent India, states have started to get more funds from the centre," he said.

"The commission has increased the states' share in the Union to a record 42 per cent from 32 per cent. So, we don't expect any more financial resources from the centre. The funds we are receiving from the centre under various schemes is sufficient," he told after the launch of an event for promoting tourism in Gujarat here.

Patel was responding to a question if he would join the chorus of other states demanding that the Centre should release more funds for infrastructure development.

States such as Odisha, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Telangana and West Bengal have requested the Finance Minister to release more funds to compensate for the losses suffered on account of Central Sales Tax (CST) pending since 2012-13, in a pre-budget Budget meeting with Jaitley.

Patel said it is not right when the states' share in the Union has increased to 42 per cent.

"I don't think it is a right thing (to ask the centre to release more funds).It is the duty of the state governments to manage the economies within limits," he said.

"Many of them give lots of charities through their schemes to see to it that their political means are settled. For example, they give free meals and weaken the state's economy."

"On the flipside, Gujarat is having surplus budget, well-placed fiscal responsibility act and, have borrowed money within RBI guidelines," Patel noted.

Earlier, speaking at the event Gujarat Tourism Commissioner N Srivastava said in 2014-15 total tourist arrivals in the state was 326.91 lakh, which was 13.5 per cent higher than the previous year.

"Annually the domestic tourism growth rate nationally is 9.6 per cent," he added.

Ahmedabad, Ambaji, Dwarka, Surat and Vadodara continue to remain top-drawn destinations and they account for over 41 per cent of gross tourist flow to Gujarat, Srivastava said.