To spur growth, which is the biggest challenge now, investment has to come in and poor investment sentiment will have a huge impact on job creation and livelihood options for our youth, he observed.
(File Photo: IANS)
While welcoming certain measures in the Union Budget, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik underlined that the Sensex drop of almost 1000 points today does show the lack of investor confidence.
To spur growth, which is the biggest challenge now, investment has to come in and poor investment sentiment will have a huge impact on job creation and livelihood options for our youth, he observed.
He pointed out that almost all allocations under the Centrally Sponsored Schemes have been stagnant.
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The divisible pool of Central Taxes has shrunk by almost Rs 59,000 crore. This will reduce Odisha’s share by about Rs 3000 crore.
The Chief Minister noted that allocation of Rs 11,500 crore nationally against an approved plan of Rs 3.6 lakh crore for drinking water is too meagre. Odisha spends about Rs 3600 crore on drinking water, he said.
He regretted that none of the archaeological sites of Odisha have been included in the iconic sites to be developed. Also, Odisha deserves a National Tribal Museum, he added.
On the positives, he said the Krishi Rail and Krishi Udan for the seamless national cold supply chain is a welcome measure as is the PM-KUSUM to cover 20 lakh farmers for solar pumps.
Removal of dividend distribution tax and introduction of the concessional component tax, the announcement of Concessional Tax rates for cooperatives, increase of deposit insurance coverage from Rs1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh and FDI in education sector are good steps, he said.
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