Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and four Union ministers in Delhi, presenting Kerala’s key financial and developmental concerns. Addressing the media after the meetings, he said the discussions focused on the state’s deepening fiscal crisis and long-pending demands before the Centre.
Reports indicated that the Union government has denied permission for the Chief Minister’s proposed Gulf tour scheduled for the coming days.
During his meeting with the Prime Minister, Pinarayi reiterated Kerala’s demand for a grant of ₹2,221.03 crore from the National Disaster Response Fund for rehabilitation work in the Mundakkai-Chooralmala disaster zone. The state wants this assistance treated as a grant, not a loan.
The Chief Minister said he urged the Centre to ease restrictions on the state’s borrowing capacity, restore the borrowing limit to previous levels, and return the amount deducted as part of Integrated GST recovery. He also called for reversing the recent reduction in extra-budgetary borrowing and allowing Kerala to raise an additional 0.5% of its Gross State Domestic Product.
Special consideration was sought for the state to bear only 25% of the land-acquisition cost for national highway projects, instead of the existing share.
Pinarayi also pressed for approval to establish an AIIMS at the site identified in Kinalur, Kozhikode. He sought the creation of a School of Planning and Architecture in Kerala for urban planning and architectural research.
The Chief Minister further demanded the immediate release of the pending paddy procurement subsidy owed to the state.
The Chief Minister separately met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, seeking urgent intervention to ease the state’s financial distress. He cited multiple reasons for Kerala’s current fiscal pressure — including GST rate changes, US retaliatory tariffs, the large amount recovered as IGST adjustment, and curbs on the state’s borrowing limit.
According to him, these measures together have resulted in a revenue loss of about ₹9,765 crore and a reduction in the borrowing ceiling by more than ₹5,200 crore. Another ₹4,711 crore has been cut in the name of extra-budgetary borrowings, including those under KIIFB.
Pinarayi demanded that the earlier borrowing limit be restored, ₹965 crore recovered as part of IGST adjustment be returned, and remaining recoveries be postponed. He also asked that the ₹4,711-crore cut be deferred to the next Finance Commission period and that Kerala be allowed to borrow an additional 0.5% of GSDP — around ₹6,650 crore — this year and next year to sustain capital expenditure.
The Chief Minister said Union Home Minister Amit Shah had assured that several of Kerala’s demands would be considered. The Centre has agreed to sanction a special unit of the India Reserve Battalion with full financial support to strengthen coastal security. The new unit will also function as a Marine Police Battalion in the state.
Consideration will also be given to setting up a local campus of the National Forensic Science University. The state is set to receive ₹108 crore in central aid to strengthen cyber-crime control systems and infrastructure.
Pinarayi said Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari reviewed the progress of all 16 reaches of the NH-66 project in Kerala and assured that work would be completed by December. Gadkari plans to visit Kerala to inspect the progress and inaugurate the completed stretches in January.
The Chief Minister said the Palakkad-Kozhikode Greenfield Highway, the Thiruvananthapuram Outer Ring Road (NH-866), and the Ernakulam Bypass would also be inaugurated in January.
