Panaji: Ahead of the 16th Finance Commission’s meeting in Goa, Chief minister Dr Pramod Sawant held review meeting of all the departments finalising various projects worth Rs 28,000 crore.
Talking to reporters after chairing the review meeting, Sawant said that the State will also demand to increase the share of the scheme for untied part to minimum one percent against existing 0.35 per cent.
A five-member 16th Finance Commission headed by Chairman Arvind Panagariya is likely to visit the State from January 9 to 10, 2025.
Sawant said that during the meeting key discussions focused on the presentation to be made on behalf of the state, highlighting Goa’s financial requirements, state-specific project proposals and the enhanced funding for disaster management.
The chief minister said that the projects worth Rs 28,000 crore would be proposed in the presentation before the 16th Finance Commission.
Giving details, the chief minister said that the final presentation to be made before the Finance commission would be ready by coming Monday.
He said that the projects worth Rs 1693 crore for tourism, Rs 1536 crore for education, Rs 631 crore for health, Rs 4160 crore for Power, Rs 7350 crore for Green Energy, Rs 5460 crore for Public Works Department, Rs 3401 crore for Water Resources Department and Rs 730 crore for Waste Management would be proposed before the commission.
He said that though Goa is a small state, it has almost one crore people as a floating population including tourists and migrants. “We are 4th in the Sustainable Development Goals. We will demand that the share of the state should be minimum one per cent as against the existing 0.35 per cent,” Sawant said.
He said that the commission during their two-day-long visit will interact with the local bodies like panchayats, municipalities and even the opposition political parties.
