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Minister for Finance Thangam Thennarasu. | Photo Credit: B. JOTHI RAMALINGAM
Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu has urged the Union authorities to code issues specified arsenic gross losses to the States nether the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, merchandise pending dues nether assorted schemes, and denote a enactment bundle to mitigate the interaction of the U.S. tariff increases connected the State’s economy. Speaking astatine the pre-Union Budget consultation gathering chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman successful New Delhi connected Saturday, Mr. Thennarasu, who represented Tamil Nadu on with Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) T. Udhayachandran and Deputy Secretary (Budget) Pratik Tayal, said the State had already spent astir ₹9,500 crore successful beforehand outgo towards the Union government’s stock for Chennai Metro Rail Phase II, though the task was approved successful October 2024. He said the magnitude continued to beryllium reflected arsenic portion of the State’s borrowings, adversely affecting Tamil Nadu’s debt-GSDP ratio and permissible borrowing limit. He sought due accounting entries successful enactment with the Cabinet approval. He besides urged the Centre to reconsider the Metro Rail proposals for Madurai and Coimbatore, saying that the grounds cited for their rejection were inconsistent with those cited for the support granted to the projects successful different cities. Highlighting the interaction of the U.S. tariff increases connected the State’s economy, Mr. Thennarasu said that with 31% of Tamil Nadu’s goods exported to the U.S., the State had been facing terrible consequences, particularly successful the textile sector. Tamil Nadu accounts for 28% of India’s textile exports and provides employment to much than 75 lakh workers. Nearly 30 lakh jobs were astatine an contiguous hazard successful this sector, helium said, seeking a dedicated enactment bundle for the textile sector, including involvement subvention, targeted subsidies, export incentives, and taxation relief. On the GST, the Minister said the States were facing persistent gross losses aft the extremity of the compensation authorities and owing to the caller complaint rationalisation. He said Tamil Nadu was expected to suffer astir ₹10,000 crore successful the existent fiscal twelvemonth and urged the Centre to present a compensation mechanism. He besides said the continued usage of cesses and surcharges deprived the States of their rightful stock of revenues and called for their merger with the basal taxation rates. He besides said ₹3,112 crore nether the Jal Jeevan Mission had not been released and sought the contiguous merchandise of this sum to guarantee timely completion of the work. He said the Union government’s refusal to supply its ₹2,283-crore stock for the Hogenakkal Water Supply Project Phase III had delayed the fiscal closure of the project. Mr. Thennarasu said ₹3,548 crore nether Samagra Shiksha for 2024-25 and 2025-26 was yet to beryllium released. This affected 44 lakh students and 2.4 lakh teachers. He said the State was forced to carnivore the full expenditure and sought the merchandise of the funds. The Minister besides urged the Centre to authorisation caller obstruction lines successful concern corridors. — including Tirupattur-Krishnagiri-Hosur, Madurai-Thoothukudi done Aruppukkottai, and the Minjur-Tiruvallur-Sriperumpudur-Oragadam-Maduranthagam — too a semi-high-speed obstruction nexus connecting Chennai, Salem, and Coimbatore. He besides urged precedence backing for nationalist road projects, including elevated roads betwixt Tambaram and Chengalpattu.
Published - January 10, 2026 09:56 p.m. IST
