Overview
- Chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu met finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi on January 15 to press for a minimum Rs 10,000 crore annual Revenue Deficit Grant for Himachal Pradesh.
- He sought permission for additional borrowing equal to 2% of GSDP, citing steep RDG cuts that have tightened fiscal space as state debt has risen above Rs 1 lakh crore.
- He proposed a dedicated Green Fund of Rs 50,000 crore a year for hill states to compensate for ecological services.
- He urged revisions to horizontal devolution to raise the weight for forest and ecology, inclusion of snow‑covered cold desert areas above the tree line, and a separate Disaster Risk Index with dedicated allocations for Himalayan states.
- He called for measures to protect apple growers, including a 100% import duty, a July–November import ban, quantitative restrictions, and a special category designation, with the requests now pending consideration by the Centre and the Finance Commission.