Himachal asks Centre for Rs 7,565 crore financial package

Shimla : The Himachal Pradesh government on Sunday requested the Union government to sanction a special economic package of Rs 7,565 crore to tide over the difficult financial situation in the hill state .

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh met P Chidambaram in New Delhi and explained to him that the 13 th finance commission had misjudged the committed liabilities of the state .

As a result of which the gap in committed liabilities of the Himachal government in the form of pensions , salaries and interest is Rs 3,522 crore in the current fiscal year and which will rise to Rs 4,043 crore in the next fiscal.

He pleaded that all centrally sponsored schemes should be uniformally funded in the ratio of 90:10 for all special category states .

Currently Himachal gets far less Central assistance as compared to the north-eastern states .

Virbhadra Singh also requested the Union government to restore the special industrial package to the state till 2020.

He said due to the abrupt withdrawal of the package in 2010 it had adversely impacted the industrial growth and job opportunities in the state .