Meghalaya CM tables a Rs 1323 cr deficit budget in Assembly

The total receipts for 2019-20 is estimated at Rs 16,199 crore of which the revenue receipts are estimated at Rs 14,438 crore and capital receipts at Rs 1,761 crore, Sangma said in his budget speech.

Excluding borrowings, the total receipts are estimated to be Rs 14,463 crore while the estimated expenditure is at Rs 16,202 crore, he said adding that the revenue expenditure is estimated at Rs 13,700 crore and capital expenditure at Rs 2, 502 crore.

According to the Chief Minister who holds charge of the the Finance department, the estimated total expenditure is Rs 15, 786 crore excluding repayment of loans of Rs 416 crore.

He said the Interest payments for 2019-20 are estimated to be at Rs 746 crore and pension payments at Rs 855 crore.

“I am, therefore, presenting the budget of 2019-20 with a fiscal deficit of Rs 1323 crore, which is around 3.65 percent of the GSDP,” Sangma said.

The chief minister said the advance estimates indicate that the GSDP for 2018-19 is at Rs 32,972 crore, an increase of 10.41 percent over 2017-18, which was at Rs 29,864 crore.

Stating that the government has accorded highest priority to improve revenue collection, he said a committee in the finance department was constituted and it has been methodically looking into all issues related to bettering the revenue collection and resolving inter-departmental coordination issues.

He said the revenue collection of the taxation department is expected to touch Rs 1478 crore by the end of this year, thus registering a growth rate of 15% while the overall tax revenue including GST, Excise and Motor Vehicle Taxes is estimated at Rs 1,716 crore for 2018-19.

The CM further said the improved performance of the state in the seond year of  Goods and Services Tax (GST) implementation can be gauged from the fact that only Rs 73 crore was provided as compensation in 2018-19 by the Centre against Rs 124 crore in 2017-18.

“…I am confident that the revenue collection of the state would improve significantly in the next financial year. For 2019-20, I have estimated Rs 2,090 crore and Rs 601 crore for tax and non-tax revenue collection respectively,” Sangma said.

The Chief Minister further informed that the state government has submitted a memorandum to the 15th Finance Commission for the period 2020-2025 and expects a favourable award from it.

Listing education, human development and health as the government’s top most priorities, Sangma said he is proposing an allocation of Rs 1,077 crore for the education sector for 2019-20, a 17% increase from 2018-19.

He said the Ministry of Tribal Affairs has further announced that 25 more Ekalavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) will be sanctioned for the state in the next two years apart from the eleven which have been sanctioned at Rs 24 crore each.

The state government also pledged a development outlay of Rs 740 crore for the Heath and Family Welfare sector, which is an increase of 21 percent over the previous year.

With the Free Drugs Policy recently approved, the CM said, “We are increasing the allocation for procurement of medicines from the current Rs 44 crore to Rs 66 crore for 2019-20.”

He also informed that the government is in the process of planning the Meghalaya Integrated Transport Sector Project with an external aid of Rs 1050 crore in a period of six years.

The project will integrate all modes of transport – road, rail, air, water and urban transport, he said.

The outlay for other key sectors include Rs 590 crore for the roads and bridges, Rs 188 crore – urban, Rs 172 crore – transport, Rs 558 crore – social welfare, Rs 110 crore – tourism, Rs 201 crore – sports and youth affairs.

The government has also proposed an outlay of Rs 1,047 crore for the MGNREGS for the year 2019-20.

Besides, Rs 165 crore was also proposed for the implementation of the Meghalaya Livelihoods and Access to markets Project (M-LAMP), Rs 43 crore for the Chief Minister’s Social Assistance Programme and Rs 52 crore for National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM).

The government has also created a window agency for ease of doing business and this agency has given approvals to 59 projects with investments worth Rs 2830 crore and providing employment to 2525 youths, the CM said.

By Our Reporter