MUMBAI, India — After devastating floods killed more than 400 people and engulfed entire towns in a southern state in India, the United Arab Emirates offered $100 million to help the recovery.

The Indian government’s response: thanks, but no thanks.

Indian officials, in turning down the offer on Wednesday, said the country had a longstanding policy of relying on domestic resources, which they insist are adequate. Since a giant tsunami hit India’s southern coast in 2004, killing at least 10,000 people, they say, the central government has built up a disaster relief agency, modeling it on the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

But many critics, while commending India’s national government for a quick response to the disaster in the state of Kerala, worry that it has not committed nearly enough money to help Kerala rebuild.

The central government has promised $85 million for the recovery from the floods this month, the worst in Kerala state since 1924. This is not only less than the amount offered by the United Arab Emirates, it is a tiny fraction of the $3 billion damage estimate by the state finance minister, Thomas Isaac.