Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 27 (PTI) With Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman all set to present the Union Budget for the FY 2025-26 on February 1, Kerala is hoping to bring an end to the long-pending financial issues it had with the Centre.

State Finance Minister K N Balagopal said that the state is awaiting the union budget with huge hopes.

Speaking to the media here, Balagopal said Kerala has demanded a special package for the state and also another relief package for the Wayanad landslide victim rehabilitation and for the Vizhinjam International Port.

"We have given our demands in detail in the pre-budget meeting held at Jaisalmer last month. There have been several financial cuts to Kerala, and we have demanded to solve these issues," he said.

The finance minister hoped that the union budget would consider the special financial condition the country is going through and would bring in measures to improve the situation.

"The reports from Niti Ayog and RBI show that we are not achieving the projected financial growth. So the central government should implement projects that would bring money to the hands of the people. I am hopeful that the Union finance ministry will take appropriate measures," Balagopal added.

The state finance minister had submitted a long list of demands from Kerala in the pre-budget meeting held at Jaisalmer recently.

Pointing to the "unprecedented low" in central transfers to the state, which has put a strain on the state's finances, Kerala has demanded a Rs 24,000 crore special package to alleviate its financial stress over a period of two years.

It has also demanded a Rs 2,000 crore special package for the rehabilitation of the landslide victims in Wayanad, a demand the state has been raising immediately after the disaster.

Stressing the importance of Vizhinjam International Sea Port, which could be giving a major boost to the Indian economy, Kerala has demanded Rs 5,000 crore package for the port and also to provide the Viability Gap Funding as a special grant and not as a loan, a demand the central government has repeatedly dismissed.

The state has also demanded to bring in a revamped open market borrowing modality, enhancing the normal borrowing ceiling of the state to 3.5 per cent from 3 per cent of GSDP unconditionally for the financial year 2025-26.

It has also raised demands for railway development, mitigation of human-animal interface conflicts, welfare schemes for Non-Resident Keralites, climate change mitigation, reinstatement of GST compensation, and measures to address coastal erosion and rehabilitation. PTI KPK TGB ROH

Special fiscal relief demand: Kerala seeks central package and borrowing flexibility to alleviate strained finances. Kerala seeks a special financial package to alleviate strained finances from low central transfers, requests reinstatement of GST compensation, an unconditional increase in the open market borrowing ceiling for 2025-26, and projects that stimulate household incomes. It demands grant-based Viability Gap Funding for Vizhinjam port, separate rehabilitation funding for Wayanad landslide victims, and targeted packages for railway development, human-animal conflict mitigation, non-resident welfare, coastal erosion, and climate change measures.