Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy has said his government would not be able to implement any scheme without the help of the Centre.
Speaking on the demands for grants for various departments during the debate in the Assembly last night, he said, "no scheme can be implemented without the help and cooperation of the Centre."
The chief minister said the Union Territory government needed Rs 1,000 crore to implement the report of the seventh pay commission for the government staff and also to meet its commitments to pay pension to the retired staff.
"I have been persuading the Centre to help Puducherry to meet its commitments," he said, adding that the need to go in for open market borrowing could be obviated.
Narayanasamy said due to the sustained steps taken to collect sales tax and other duties, there was an increase of 18 per cent in the revenue here during 2017-18 over the revenue netted in the previous fiscal (2016-17).
The government has now set a revenue target of Rs 2,025 crore for the current fiscal (2018-2019), he added.
He further said 90 per cent of the budgetary requirements of Puducherry were met by the grants from the Centre in the past.
The grant was however brought down to 70 per cent subsequently, and presently it has been further slashed to 25 per cent, causing difficulty to Puducherry, he added.
"Our meticulous planning and judicious fiscal management have enabled the territorial government to meet its essential commitments," the chief minister said.
Welfare Minister M Kandasamy, while replying on the demands for grants for his departments, said the government had banned plastic materials of less than 50 microns.
Health and Tourism Minister Malladi Krishna Rao said Rs 15 crore would be spent for construction of infrastructure to promote sports in the Union Territory.
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