NCP slams Maha govt on 'faltering' economy; Minister hits back

Senior NCP leader Dhananjay Munde Sunday hit out at the Maharashtra government for the state's "faltering economy" and demanded a white paper on it.

Quoting a report of the Finance Commission, Munde said the state's tax revenue had decreased by over 9 per cent in the period 2014-17 when compared to the period 2009-13.

"A white paper should be published over the state's faltering economy. Our previous demands made in the state Legislature have been ignored. The government does a jugglery of figures every time and hides the truth," Munde claimed.

He said Rs 12,000 crore allotted to the state by the Centre had remained unused and thus had to be returned.

"The Finance commission's report has laid bare all the facts now. How has revenue declined in the last 4 years when the government had levied a huge number of taxes all these years?" he questioned.

The Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council said that he will move a breach of privilege motion against the (Maharashtra) Finance Minister for "lying" on the floor of the House.

A release issued by the PIB Saturday has stated that the Finance Commission will visit Maharashtra from September 17-19 to discuss issues like intra-state disparity and urbanisation.

The release also stated that Maharashtra could not maintain the momentum in growth of revenue receipts during 2009-13 and 2014-17.

The trend growth declined from 17.69 per cent during 2009-13 to 11.05 per cent in 2014-17.

The trend growth of the state's tax revenue declined from 19.44 per cent in 2009-13 to 8.16 per cent in 2014-17, it added.

Responding to the Union Finance ministry's observations, Maharashtra Minister of State for Finance Deepak Kesarkar said several measures of the state government, including farm loan waiver and infrastructure projects, had taken a toll on the state's exchequer.

"Maharashtra is one of those states most disadvantaged by GST as it is a manufacturing state. Yet, Maharashtra has the highest per capita income," Kesarkar said.

Kesarkar said around 40-45 per cent of the state's income is spent on education, adding that it did not let infrastructure projects suffer even as it was trying to increase revenue.

He further said the state government will ask the Centre for a special package for Vidarbha and Marathwada regions as the two regions are under-developed.

When asked for a response on the Finance Commission's report, Maharashtra government spokesperson Brijesh Singh said they were preliminary observations and detailed deliberations were underway.

"A proper analysis would be available after September 19 after each of these issues are deliberated upon," Singh said.