“Thanks to GST arrears from Centre followed by economic slowdown and now the coronavirus infection. The Union government funds and grants for the state has dwindled and the Centre’s GST share is getting accumulated for every three months,” an official said adding that the Union government had also drastically suspended the annual basic grants allocated to the local bodies and in the absence of elected local bodies, the state is unable to put pressure on the Centre seeking these funds which have piled up to more than Rs 10,000 crore in the past three years.

 “Despite full-fledged operations of registration and commercial department along with the Tasmac outlets, the revenue inflow for the month of June and July is less than 30 per cent, when compared to the previous years. The state’s 60 per cent revenue comes through these departments. Even before coronavirus outbreak, Finance Secretary S Krishnan admitted economic slowdown, but exuded confidence that the TN’s economy which was 8.17 in 2018-19 and 7.27 in 201920 can bounce back in the current fiscal.

 But, now the state’s figure will be adverse as the state has lost revenue of at least Rs 60,000 crore due to the lockdown,” another informed source explained.

 According to the Secretariat sources and Assembly department data, from 2011-12 to 2019-20 a total of 715 announcements were made in the Budget speeches. Of these announcements, 537 have been fully implemented, while for 161 announcements, orders have been issued and are at an advanced stage of implementation. For about two dozen projects, the paper works are yet to start.

 However, the Chief Minister enjoys an execution rate of more than 80 per cent when it comes to the State Highways Department projects with a majority of the projects either completed or in progress taken up in western districts comprising Salem, Coimbatore, Erode and Namakkal. The state had also progressed massively in getting the clearances for nine medical colleges, three veterinary colleges and a law college, sources said.