Kolkata, July 27 (IANS): Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday contested Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's claim of the Union government "depriving" the state of its legitimate dues, saying, Central funding to the state has been more than the state's revenues from 2018-19 till 2023-24.
In a statement, Adhikari said, "The figure from the state's Budget documents shows that the total Central funding to the state has been around 31 per cent, more than the state's own revenues from 2018-19 till 2023-24."
Adhikari also quoted some figures, highlighting the "sorry state of economic affairs" in the state.
According to him, although West Bengal has 7.5 per cent of India's population, the contribution of the state to GST on domestic goods for 2023-24 is Rs 62,613 crore as against a total collection of Rs 15,23,249 crore which is just 4.11 per cent of the national figure.
"This points to the fact that the state is economically weaker. Even in this, the contribution to CGST is only Rs 19,267 crore, with the remaining GST being retained as State GST or cess by the state itself or shared with other states as IGST," the statement read.
Adhikari has also quoted some figures highlighting the state's performance in the sphere of direct tax collection. According to him, during the financial year 2022-23, the direct tax collection from West Bengal was only Rs 56,323.21 crore, which is 3.46 per cent of the national collection figure of Rs 16,26,927.63 crore.
"Whereas the Central government shares 7.53 per cent of the amount given to all states as the devolution of taxes and 8.51 per cent of the grant-in-aid given to all the states, it is clear that the Central government gives much more in percentage terms than it collects from the state, mainly in recognition of West Bengal's poor financial condition," Adhikari said.
Claiming that Mamata Banerjee's repetitive "false narrative" does not hold water anymore, he claimed the economy of the state is staring down the barrel because of the Chief Minister.
"The Central government is doing whatever is required to pull West Bengal out from the financial mess," Adhikari claimed in the statement.