State Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan on Saturday said the Centre disbursed ₹3,500 crore as a 50-year interest-free loan to Tamil Nadu on Friday. This was in line with the announcement made by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Union Budget 2022-23. These interest-free loans are over and above the normal borrowings allowed to the states. This allocation would be used for capital investments.

The minister told reporters this after holding discussions with Sitharaman in New Delhi. A team led by him held discussions on many schemes with key officials of the Union government on Friday and Saturday.

Since reports of the Group of Ministers on certain key issues were yet to be submitted, the next GST meeting was getting delayed. “The next GST meeting was to be held in Madurai in August. We have urged the Union Finance Minister to hold it soon,” he added.

The State minister said he also discussed the pending approval of the Union Cabinet to loan agreements with JICA, the Asian Development Bank, and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank for the second phase of the Chennai Metro Rail Project. “The State government has been requesting the Union government to expedite its approval for these loans since the TN government disbursed its share last year itself. We have been requesting the Centre to allow this project as a State-sponsored project until the loans from the above institutions are ensured. Now, we have been assured that the approval for getting loans from the above institutions would be given by the end of this month,” he added.

Also, the Centre agreed to give Income Tax and EPFO data to Tamil Nadu to ensure better implementation of loan waiver and other schemes. “Since the Union government has given up its plan to establish a National Institute of Pharmacology Research in Madurai, we have requested the Union finance minister to establish a National Institute of Medical Equipment Research with a testing facility. This will be a boost since AIIMS is coming up in Madurai,” the minister said.