AGARTALA, Sept 25 - Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Thursday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi and sought his support to meet the shortfall of Rs 2,200 crore for the 2020-21 fiscal under the XVth Finance Commission, official sources stated here today.
Tripura has been facing a resource crunch due to non-availability of the Finance Commission�s award on time. Besides, the State has not received GST returns from the Centre, complicating its fragile fiscal position. The COVID-19 pandemic has also given a body blow to the economy of the State.
During the meeting last evening, the Chief Minister submitted a wishlist to the Prime Minister, seeking his intervention to release the balance fund of about Rs 650 crore from the Ministry of Finance for completion of the ongoing development projects amounting to Rs 1,000 crore.
The issue of funding of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at West Jalefa in South Tripura district also came up for discussion in the meeting. Deb requested the Prime Minister to fund the SEZ under trade infrastructure for export scheme of the Union Ministry of Commerce. He also urged the Prime Minister to expedite the DPR preparation for setting up a logistics hub at Sabroom through Asian Development Bank funding.
Briefing the Prime Minister on the State�s grim economic condition, the Chief Minister urged Modi to remove the moratorium on new proposals for externally-aided projects by the Department of Economic Affairs.
There was also an elaborate discussion on the State�s overall COVID-19 situation with the Prime Minister. Deb stated that the situation in the State is satisfactory in terms of tests per million, the positivity rate and the recovery rate.
Besides, Deb also highlighted the welfare steps being taken by Tripura during the pandemic. The Prime Minister, on his part, assured all possible help and support to the State. The Tripura Chief Minister also met Home Minister Amit Shah, the Defence Minister and the BJP national president JP Nadda.
