Odisha, which has been denied the status of a special category state over the years, has demanded an allocation of ₹12.59 lakh crore from the 16th Finance Commission.

The state government has also asked for an increase of Odisha’s share in the central taxes. Odisha raised this demand during a meeting of the state officials led by chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi with the 15-member team of the 16th Finance Commission, led by its chief Arvind Panagariya on Thursday.

Majhi urged the finance commission to allocate ₹12,59,148 crore to the state for five years (2026-31).

Majhi said: “We have put forth our demands before the commission concerning the state’s developmental needs, fiscal capacity and the proposed fiscal transfer system with a hope that the commission would consider our submission favourably and reflect in their report covering the period from 2026-2031.“

Odisha sought ₹9,88,422 crore as the pre-devolution revenue deficit, ₹1,10,434 crore towards state specific bodies, ₹1,00,036 crore for the local bodies, ₹31,004 crore for the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and ₹29,252 crore towards the State Disaster Mitigation Fund (SDRMF).

The state gave a detailed presentation about its financial condition and urged the finance commission to enhance the state’s share in central taxes to 50 per cent from the present 41 per cent share.

Citing that Odisha is a victim of natural disasters, Majhi demanded that the Centre provide 100 percent allocation to the SDRF. As per the present norms, the Centre provides 75 per cent allocation to the SDRF annually, whereas the state bears the burden of 25 per cent.

The government suggested that during the distribution of the net proceeds of taxes among states, the finance commission should look into factors like vulnerable sections of people, the density of the population, and forest cover.