Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik welcomes Union Budget with some concerns

Bhubaneswar, Feb 1: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik gave a mixed reaction to the Union Budget 2020-21 which was tabled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Parliament today. Patnaik welcomed Krishi Rail and Krishi Udan for a seamless national cold supply chain while he expressed concern over some issues. “Odisha had requested for extension of Concessional Tax rates to Cooperatives in line with Corporate Tax cuts. We welcome the announcement of Concessional Tax rates for cooperatives,” Patnaik said. He also welcomed initiatives like PM — KUSUM to cover 20 lakh farmers for solar pumps and removal of dividend distribution tax and introduction of concessional component tax. Patnaik also liked the increase of deposit insurance coverage from Rs.1 lakh to Rs.5 lakh and announcement for New Education Policy and FDI in the education sector. However, the Chief Minister raised concern over some issues. Almost all allocations under the Centrally Sponsored Schemes have been stagnant, Patnaik mentioned. 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, he opined. None of archaeological sites of Odisha have been included in the iconic sites to be developed and Odisha also deserves a National Tribal Museum, Patnaik stressed. Drinking water is a national priority. Allocation of Rs 11,500 crore nationally against an approved plan of Rs 3.6 lakh crore is too little. In fact, Odisha spends about Rs 3600 crore in Drinking water, he mentioned expressing his concern.    Sensex is an indicator of investor confidence. The drop of almost 1000 points today shows that there is a huge scope to take a number of measures, the Chief Minister said. Investor confidence is important for fresh investments to come in, to spur growth which is the biggest challenge now.  This will have a huge impact on job creation and livelihood options for our youth, he concluded.