‘Don’t know where these numbers are from...’: FM Nirmala Sitharaman hits back at claims that Tamil Nadu gets little

At an event in Chennai, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman took on a familiar narrative head-on — that Tamil Nadu gives more to the Centre than it gets back.

She pointed to a recurring claim: “We’re the ones contributing the most, and what are you giving us in return?” Some even say, “You’ve not given us even 7 paise out of every ₹1.”

“I don’t know where these numbers are coming from. Where are they getting these calculations from?” Sitharaman asked, before walking the audience through hard data, using the Centre’s Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes as a counterpoint. “About 25% of the PLI beneficiaries in the country are based right here. Electronic manufacturing companies — they are all getting PLI money.”

What followed was a detailed rebuttal — and a list of schemes, allocations, and cluster developments that the Centre has backed in Tamil Nadu.

“So where is that money coming from?” she continued. “When someone says, ‘We’re giving so much, what are you giving us?’ — that whole argument is flawed.”

Sitharaman didn’t stop at that. “I don’t even understand how they’re arriving at these calculations. And if I may put it a bit bluntly — there are people here from Coimbatore, Chennai — all of you are here. So is it only Coimbatore and Chennai that pay taxes? What about people from Ariyalur? From Kovilpatti? Don’t they deserve to ask, ‘What is being spent on us?’”

“If these two cities say, ‘We’re paying, so we should be given back,’ then what should someone in Kovilpatti say? ‘Don’t spend a paisa on me’? There’s no such policy in India.”

She added, “That’s why I say — to those who argue in such a misleading and flawed manner — I’m reading this list for a reason. Because only when we add all this up and calculate it objectively, can we truly see what Tamil Nadu is receiving.”

Among the major projects she cited was the announcement by Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on two major electronic manufacturing clusters — one in Gujarat and the other in Tamil Nadu. “The central government has allocated ₹1,100 crore through the budget for this… It’s coming to Tamil Nadu.”

The upcoming facilities are expected in Manalur and Pillaipakkam.

She also pointed to Tamil Nadu’s dominance in the PLI auto components scheme — “Out of the 82 approved applicants with 257 manufacturing units across India under this PLI scheme, 46 are located in Tamil Nadu. All of them are getting PLI support.”

On future-tech sectors, she added: “Of the four manufacturing units being set up under the Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) PLI scheme, one is in Tamil Nadu. All these companies are PLI beneficiaries — and they’re all in Tamil Nadu.”