There is a huge reduction of Central grants for Odisha, which has turned out to be a major concern for the State, which requires more funds for fighting Covid-19 pandemic and speeding up development projects.
The State used to get more than Rs 60,000 crore from Share Tax and grants from the Center to the State. So, a lion's share of the Budget is funded by the the Union Government. However, it is slowing down over past few years as in 2019-20, the State received Rs 54,602 crore.As on November 30, 2020 on both Share Tax and grants count, Odisha has received Rs 30,844 crore. And only four months left; so the target to receive Rs 68,299 crore in financial year of 2020-21 is unlikely. Reduction from Share Tax is almost - 21 per cent and on Central grants, it is - 21 percent.
However, by November 30, 2018, Odisha received Rs 33,860 crore and as on November 30, 2019, the State had received Rs 37,651 crore from Share Tax and grants from the Centre. So, the State has received much less amount than 2018 level High inflation and grossly slowing down of Share Tax and Central grants is the cause of worry for the State. Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari admitted this on the floor of the Assembly (OLA), while presenting Supplementary demand for approval. So how the State Government will be able to mop up resources to fund a State Budget of Rs 1.61 lakh crore with shrinking Central release is a pertinent question.
Under this backdrop, the Odisha Government is trying hard to collect Own Tax and Non Tax Revenue in an organised manner so that the situation can be managed to some extent. With Covid-19 pandemic economy has slowed down and collection of Own Tax and Non Tax Revenue looks to be a hard task.A review reveals that due to overdrive, the Odisha Government has maintained the level of 2018 collection as on November 30. By November 30, 2018, collection of Own Tax Revenue was Rs 18,509 crore and by November 30, 2019, it was Rs 19,917 crore.
However by November 30, 2020, the State has collected Rs 18,922 crore.Though growth over 2019 is less than nearly 5 per cent, however due to Covid-19, collection could have been poorer but due to an overdrive, level of 2018 was maintained, officials say.
While in 2020-21 it has been targeted that Rs 56,000 crore will be collected from Own Tax and Own Non Tax revenue, achieving the target seems difficult, admit officials.