Finance Minister Pradip Kumar Amat on Tuesday presented his maiden Budget in the Assembly for an outlay of Rs 80,139 crore with proposal to levy higher tax on petroleum products and liquor.
The Finance Minister proposed to raise tax rate on foreign liquor (IMFl) from 20 per cent to 25 per cent and tax on diesel and petrol from 18 per cent to 20 per cent. These two measures will fetch additional revenue of Rs 375 crore to the exchequer, he revealed.
Stating that the Government has simply restored the tax rate on petrol and diesel from 18 per cent to 20 per cent, Aamt justified the increased tax saying that the Empowered Committee of the State Finance Ministers has recommended minimum tax rate of 20 per cent on petrol and diesel. Besides, he said that the enhanced rate of tax on foreign liquor is based on the premise of ability to pay.
In keeping with the practice of previous year, the Finance Minister also presented the Budget in two parts- Agriculture Budget and General Budget separately. The allocation for agriculture and allied sectors in the Budget was pegged at Rs 9,542 crore which is substantially enhanced from Rs 7,161 crore in 2013-14.
The step- up in provision in the sector is more than 33 per cent , he said, adding out of this while the agriculture sector will have a budget provision of Rs 2,727 crore, the Water Resources Department will have Rs 5,087 crore compared to Rs 4,024 crore provided in the 2013-14 Budget.
He said that the State plan outlay for agriculture and allied sectors has been increased by more than 42 per cent from Rs 5,262 crore to Rs 7,490 crore with growth of more than 42 per cent. It would provide a fillip to the growth of agriculture and allied sectors by way of increased productivity, income generation and welfare of farmers, he said.
Highlighting the composition of the Budget, Amat said that the total receipt for the year was estimated at Rs 67,146 crore out of which the State’s own tax and non-tax revenue would be Rs 27,886 crore. The State annual plan outlay was fixed at Rs 40,810 crore which include an outlay of Rs 38,810 crore for the Government sector.
The Budget has a revenue surplus in the order of Rs 4,265 crore during the year, he asserted. Stating that the budgetary outlay has increased by about 33 per cent this year, he said the non-plan outlay was increased by about 7.3 per cent where as the plan outlay is more than double compared to the previous year.
The Budget has a clear reflection of the implementation of the policy measures promised in the ruling BJD’s election manifesto. The size of the Budget was increased substantially due to the higher allocation on the existing schemes and launching of new schemes, Amat said.
Stating that higher allocations have been made for all departments for implementation of various developmental and welfare oriented schemes, the Finance Minister said that for the school education, the allocation has been enhanced from Rs 7,142 crore to Rs 9,327 crore while for health sector Rs 3,897 crore has been provided which is 65 per cent higher than the last year’s allocation.
The Budget has provided Rs100 crore to launch State Capital Region Improvement of Power System, a new programme, from this fiscal, he informed.
Similarly, another new programme-Odisha Power System Improvement Project - would be launched with a provision of Rs 55 crore. A sum of Rs 150 crore was provided to launch Mukhya Mantri Sadak Yojana, a new programme from this fiscal, Amat said.
Claiming that the fiscal position of the State Government continues to be very sound despite adverse economic environment, he said the fiscal deficit has been kept within 3 per cent of the GSDP since 2004-2005. Similarly, the ratio of public debt to GSDP is within 25 per cent cap prescribed by the 13th Finance Commission from 2008-2009 onwards, he said.
The Budget has increased the allocation for the Water Resources Department to Rs 5,087.69 crore.
Amat said there has been a 100-per cent increase of allocation for the Panchyati Raj Department. A new scheme ‘Mission Yiva Shakti’ with an allocation of Rs 10 crore has been introduced while an outlay of Rs 330 crore has been provided under the Mo Kudia scheme to increase coverage from 20,000 houses to 45,000 in 2014-15. Three new Police Training Schools would be opened during the year.