Bhubaneswar: The Union Government has no proposal under consideration for granting Special Category Status to Odisha, said Anurag Thakur, Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs, in Lok Sabha today.

Replying to a question by Nabarangpur MP Ramesh Chandra Majhi in the House, Thakur said, "There is no proposal under consideration of the Union Government for granting Special Category Status and allowing sharing pattern for Centrally Sponsored Scheme in the ratio of 90:10 at par with North-Eastern and Himalayan States to the State of Odisha."

Further, the Fourteenth Finance Commission did not make a distinction between Special and General Category States in determining their norms and recommendations, Thakur added.

Worth mentioning, Odisha Government had repeatedly demanded granting of Special Category Status to the state. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had also written to the Centre multiple times in this regard.