Himachal: Chief Minister Sukhu meets FM Nirmala Sitharaman, discussion over RDG

March 2, 2026

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi on Monday and requested a financial package under the Special Central Assistance (SCA) to cover the revenue deficit for the financial year 2026-27.

The Chief Minister told the Union Finance Minister that the discontinuation of the Revenue Deficit Grant (RDG) would have a severe impact on the state’s financial health and said that Himachal Pradesh could not be compared to other states whose RDGs had been discontinued.

He stated that the RDG contribution for the state was approximately 12.7%, the second highest after Nagaland. He stated that larger states could withstand the discontinuation, but Himachal Pradesh’s economy could not.

He stated that assessing all states on the same scale was neither healthy nor transparent. He described its discontinuation as “weakening the spirit of cooperative federalism.”

He said that Article 275(1) of the Constitution of India provides for grants to states that cannot bridge the gap between their revenue receipts and expenditure. He said that this is the first time the Finance Commission has completely ignored the development needs of small hill states.

Nirmala Sitharaman assured sympathetic consideration of the state’s demands. The Chief Minister was accompanied by Principal Advisor to the Chief Minister Ram Subhag Singh and Principal Secretary Finance Devesh Kumar.