Rajasthan seeks share in surcharges levied by Centre

Jaipur: The Rajasthan government has expressed concern over the Centre routinely resorting to levying surcharges and cesses in various names, as these were ultimately decreasing the states' shares in tax revenues. The surcharges and cesses fall outside the divisible pool of tax collections that the Centre shares with the states. Rajasthan wants surcharges and cesses to be made part of the divisible pool.
The share of surcharges and cesses in gross tax revenue of the Centre has increased from 7.53% in 2000-01 to 13.14% in 2013-14.
Further, the state has demanded that the expenditures mandated under the Central Laws, like the Right to Education (RTE), be compensated by the Centre. The RTE has cost the state Rs 128 crore in 2014-15 and Rs 400 crore in 2015-16.
At a meeting of the state finance ministers with union finance minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi last week, urban development and housing minister Rajpal Singh Shekhawat mentioned how additional surcharges and cesses were introduced and existing taxes were renamed in the Union Budget 2015-16. Shekhawat, who represented Rajasthan in the meeting, underscored that while the Centre was expected to gain Rs 30,000 crore because of the move, the states stood to lose around Rs 12,000 crore.
The minister listed out that the excise duty (Rs 4 per liter) on petrol and diesel was converted into road cess, while the clean energy cess was increased from Rs 100 to Rs 200 to make the Centre richer by around Rs 6,000 crore. "With the abolition of wealth tax, the states lost their shares but the central government gained an additional Rs 9,000 crore by merely replacing it with an additional surcharge of 2% on the super-rich," said Shekhawat.
The state has demanded the Centre to pay up its outstanding claims against various heads like the central sales tax (Rs 3800.42 crore), Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (Rs 1,759 crore), SC post-metric scholarship scheme (Rs 333.13 crore) and Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), among others.
For Centre's UDAY (Ujwal Discoms Assurance Yojana) scheme, the state has requested that it be allowed to take over the state Discoms debt-liabilities in four years instead of the mandated two years. Also, it has requested that the state's eligibility for additional borrowing limits should be calculated by discounting the Discoms debt-liability that it will be taking over. The state will have to bear interest liabilities of over Rs 5,000 crore per annum to take over the present debt liabilities of its Discoms.Box:
State govt asks railways to bear cost
Citing financial constraints, the state government has requested the railways to bear the full cost of the 'Ratlam-Dungarpur via Banswara' rail link project. The state, however, would pay for the land compensations, including in Madhya Pradesh, for the project.
As per an MoU singed on May 31, 2011, between the Rajasthan government and the railways, the state had agreed to bear the project's 50% cost, besides the land compensations. As per the railways, the project cost now stands at around Rs 3,900 crore, including Rs 345 crore towards land compensations. The project aims at developing infrastructure in the tribal regions of south-western Rajasthan and adjoining Madhya Pradesh.