GUWAHATI: As a sequel to the meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal today met Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley at Parliament House and requested him to help the State by all possible means to tackle the unprecedented and unusually long wave of floods this year.
In this context, Sonowal sought the intervention of the Finance Minister for releasing Central share of Rs 1138 crore under the Flood Management Programme (FMP) during the 11th and 12th Five Year Plans. The State has already released its share against 141 schemes under FMP.
Expressing his deep gratitude to the Finance Minister for extending support during GST implementation in Assam, Sonowal urged Jaitley not to restrict the refund of CGST/IGST incentives to industries to 58 per cent but to continue with the earlier policy of 100 per cent duties/taxes during the last three years of the 14th Finance Commission Award and under the North East Industrial and Investment Promotion Policy (NEIIPP), 2007. “We are in the third year of the 14th FC Award and 100 per cent refund has been given in the past three years. Thus restricting the refund to the industries to 58 per cent is not appropriate,” he added.
Sonowal sought Jaitley’s intervention for formulation of a New Industrial Policy on the lines of NEIIPP, 2007 which is expiring soon, to keep the flow of investment in Assam and the North East as a whole.
Lauding the Finance Minister for resolving the oil royalty issue by paving the way for clearance of the first installment amounting to Rs.948 crores in 2016-17, Sonowal requested Jaitley for immediate release of Rs. 2,844 crore oil royalty arrear from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas as per the agreement with the Government of Assam during the current financial year.
The Chief Minister also urged the Finance Minister to prevail upon NABARD to enhance the normative allocation to Assam under RIDF to Rs.1500 crore during the current financial year. NABARD has indicated an allocation of Rs.800 crore only. “I earnestly request you to advise NABARD to give priority to Assam as we are confronted with serious rural connectivity challenges,” he added. The Chief Minister briefed the Finance Minister how his Government had laid great emphasis on ensuring utilization of RIDF funds to the tune of Rs.850 crore in 2016-17, which have had never crossed more than Rs.450 crore annually till 2015-16.
Sonowal requested Jaitley to persuade NABARD to enter into a special MoU with the Government of Assam to fund various infrastructure projects with low interest rates apart from RIDF.