Tamil Nadu CM urges FM to release Rs 6374-cr grant to state local bodies

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E K Palaniswami on Thursday urged Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to immediately release a Rs 6,374 crore grant to the state's urban and rural local bodies as recommended by the 14th Finance Commission. In a letter to Sitharaman, the chief minister said that of the total amount, Rs 2,029 crore is the arrear towards performance grant from 2017-18 to 2019-2020, and Rs 4,345 crore is the basic grant for 2019-2020.

The letter was sent to the Union minister through state Municipal Administration Minister S P Velumani. After meeting Sitharaman, Velumani told reporters that the state government has sought direct flights from Coimbatore to Delhi and Dubai. The chief minister had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this regard, he said.

Velumani also met Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and pressed for more flights from Coimbatore and release of funds for the Coimbatore airport's expansion project. In a meeting with Union Agriculture and Panchayati Raj Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, he sought for quick release of the second installment of Rs 2,939 crore to Tamil Nadu for 2019-2020 under the MNREGA and a due of Rs 609 crore towards construction and administrative expenses till February 10.