New Delhi, Jan 20 (IANS): Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh met Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia here and sought special plan assistance for natural calamity, an official statement said Monday.

The chief minister raised the issue of special assistance for reconstruction under disaster mitigation programme on the analogy of Uttarakhand, said the statement.

Officials said the state has suffered heavy losses estimated at Rs.2,934 crore due to heavy rains in the last monsoon.

Virbhadra Singh also requested that all the centrally-sponsored schemes be funded in the ratio of 90:10 in all the special category states uniformly on the pattern of north-eastern states.

He also sought removal of ban on commercial exploitation of khair trees standing on government lands, as people are permitted to sell extract from khair on their private lands.

The hill state, whose economy largely depends on tourism, horticulture and hydro power generation, has a whopping Rs.30,000 crore debt.