'Tax Devolution To Tamil Nadu Has Tripled From UPA Era', Says BJP After Thangam Thennarasu's Allegations Of 'Step-Motherly Treatment'

Responding to Chief Minister MK Stalin, who shared a speech of Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu's speech in the Tamil Nadu Assembly stating that the central goverment was indulging in a "step-motherly" attitude towards the state in tax devolution and allocation of funds, the Tamil Nadu unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stated that the tax devolution had tripled and the overall amount allocated to Tamil Nadu is twice that of what was allocated during the UPA era (2004-14).

The BJP posted on X (formerly Twitter), "The Hon’ble leader of #LiarDMK ought to engage in thorough research before putting anything in public.

"• Tax devolution to Tamil Nadu has nearly tripled (2.7X or 173% increase) to Rs 2.59 lakh crore from 2014-24 (till July 2023), as against Rs 94,977 crore from 2004-14.

"• Grant in Aid to Tamil Nadu has nearly quadrupled (4X) to Rs 2.30 lakh crore between 2014-23, as against Rs 57,924 crore from 2004-14.

"• Since FY 2020-21, Rs 7042 crore has been provided as 50-year interest-free loans to assist capital expenditure plans to Tamil Nadu (as of June 2023). The Modi Govt has allocated more than twice the funds to Tamil Nadu compared to the UPA, now INDI alliance."

Thennarasu had stated that for every rupee paid by Tamil Nadu to the centre as tax revenue, it gets 29 paise in return, whereas Uttar Pradesh, which is ruled by the BJP, gets 2 rupees and 73 paise.

For the period 2014-15 to 2021-22, while the state's contribution to the centre's direct tax pool was Rs 5.16 lakh crore, the amount it received through tax sharing was Rs 2.08 lakh crore, he said.

Again, giving the example of Uttar Pradesh, he said that while the state contributed Rs 2.24 lakh crore as direct tax during the period, the amount it received through tax sharing was Rs 9.04 lakh crore, which was four times more than what it contributed.

Further, he stated that the percentage allocated by the Finance Commission had declined and was less than the state's share in the country's population.

He also stated that the compensation granted by the central government for the revenue loss suffered by states due to the introduction of GST, which ended in 2022, should be extended as states were still facing revenue loss.

Regarding funding for welfare schemes, he stated that in certain schemes, the state government was providing more funds than the centre but the scheme bears the name of the Prime Minister.