Ranchi, Jan 9 (IANS): The Jharkhand government Thursday sought Rs.1.42 lakh crore from the 14th Finance Commission for the development of the state.

A high-level meeting attended by Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and Finance Commission chairperson Y.B. Reddy took place in the state capital Thursday, and the government presented its demand of Rs.1.42 lakh crore for the development of the state in power, road, education and other sectors.

For human resource development, the state demanded Rs.23,000 crore.

Later, talking to reporters, Chief Minister Hemant Soren said: "The state is facing a tough time due to mining by the Coal India Limited (CIL). We are facing pollution problems, agricultural land is destroyed by mining, and the state gets only Rs.3,000 crore in royalty. The only resource that the state has is minerals, and our demand should be given due weightage."

Jharkhand Finance Minister Rajendra Singh said: "The commission team members were positive towards our demand."