Appropriation Bill 2015-16 cleared by Rajya Sabha

New Delhi: The Appropriation Bill 2015-16 was passed by the Rajya Sabha on Thursday by a voice vote with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley saying the Centre was keen to devolve more financial authority to the states through the budgetary process.

Replying to a debate on the bill, Jaitley said that this would result in more money for the states and speed up the pace of development.

He sought the opposition's cooperation to ensure that India achieves double-digit growth, saying "obstructionism" could only provide temporary "sadistic thrill".

"India's growth rate is not an NDA, UPA issue," the finance minister said.

"We need larger consensus on the growth roadmap. Obstructionism can have a sadistic thrill, but that can only be temporary," he added.