Ahead of UDF govt’s revised Budget, Thomas Isaac questions Kerala govt on bridging ₹20,000-crore shortfall

As Kerala Chief Minister VD Satheesan prepares to present the Revised Budget on Friday, June 19, 2026 (his first budget), senior CPI(M) leader and former Finance Minister TM Thomas Isaac said he wants to know what Mr. Satheesan plans to do to mobilize additional revenue.

Mr Isaac, who was Finance Minister in the 2016-2021 LDF Ministry, said in a Facebook post that he was interested in how the Congress Chief Minister plans to bridge the ₹ 20,000 crore shortfall in the amount projected as Central transfers in the Budget estimates passed by the Parliament in January this year.

Budget estimates expected transfers of around ₹ 20,500 crore, higher than what the 16th Finance Commission eventually provided for Kerala. The estimates were based on assumptions about ongoing revenue gap grants, which the Commission did not allow for States.

The CPI(M)-led LDF government had presented the Budget for the financial year 2026-27 before the Union Budget. Once the latter was passed, it was clear that Kerala would not get that amount, Mr. Isaac said.

Mr. Isaac said he was surprised that even though the State Budget was discussed and passed after the Union Budget, there was no serious discussion about the shortfall either in the Parliament or in the press.

Mr Isaac said he would watch the Budget carefully to see whether it plans to generate more tax revenue from gold sales and get Kerala’s due share of the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST).

Also, if the Budget does not allocate funds to pay bills for works undertaken through the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), these works will come to a halt, Mr. Isaac said.