The finance ministry on Monday said it has disbursed Rs 46,038 crore to states as their share of central taxes and duties for April.
In a tweet the ministry said to assist states effectively address the situation arising out of the Covid-19 pandemic, as a special dispensation, the calculation of net proceeds of shareable taxes has been kept unchanged according to Budget 2020-21.
The budget this year had projected the share of the states in taxes at Rs 7.84 lakh crore for 2020-21.
The 15th Finance Commission had recommended the share of states at 41 per cent of the divisible pool and 1 per cent for the newly-created union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
The 14th Finance Commission had recommended the states be given 42 per cent share in taxes.
“The ministry of finance has issued sanctions for April instalment of Devolution of States’ Share in Central Taxes and Duties amounting to Rs 46,038.10 crore today (Monday).
“The inter-se share is according to the recommendations of the XV Finance Commission,” the ministry tweeted.
Uttar Pradesh has got the maximum sum with a net transfer of Rs 8,255.19 crore, followed by Bihar at Rs 4,631.96 crore.
The Centre has allocated Rs 3,461.65 crore to Bengal and Rs 3,630.60 crore to Madhya Pradesh. The share of Maharashtra has been lower at Rs 2,824.47 crore.
Goa and Sikkim have got the least from the central pool of taxes at Rs 177.72 crore and Rs 178.64 crore, respectively.
Earlier, the RBI had raised the ways and means advance (WMA) limits to state governments by 60 per cent of their existing limits for 2019-20 to help them borrow more from the market.
The time the states can be in overdraft has been raised, allowing them to mop up to Rs 3.2 lakh crore in the April-September period.
The Centre has also advanced the release of Rs 11,092 crore of the central share from the state disaster risk management fund for 2020-21.
The states, however, have sought relaxation in the FRBM (Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management) Act. They want the permissible limit of fiscal deficit be raised to 5 per cent of their GDP from 3 per cent now.
Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra wants corporate donations to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund to be part of CSR.