The Chhattisgarh Government has commenced the annual budget preparation exercise.
Chief Minister Raman Singh on Monday in a division-level meeting held at the Mantralaya sought the views of Congress MlAs invited in the meeting in the budget preparation exercise.
Notably, the budget session of Chhattisgarh legislative Assembly will be held from March 1 to 31 this year. The session would comprise a total number of 19 sittings. On the first day of the session, Chhattisgarh Governor Balramji Das Tandon would deliver his address to the House.
Notably, the Chhattisgarh State Planning Commission had recently approved the ‘State Annual Plan 2016-17’ worth `34,715 crore at the Mantralaya in Naya Raipur.
The meeting to approve the Annual Plan was chaired by Chief Minister Raman Singh. Notably, Chhattisgarh’s approved sector-wise annual plan outlay for 2014-15 stood at `26,615 crores.
Addressing the meeting, Chief Minister Raman Singh had stated that the State Government is keen on improving the lot of the last person in the remotest village. Various departments of the State should work in close co-ordination to achieve success. A detailed presentation was given before the approval of the final draft of the Annual Plan 2016-17.
The plan proposals included improvement in irrigation facilities, increase in agricultural production, upgradation and extension of network of roads, education, health, freedom from malnutrition and other crucial issues.
Singh had stated in the meeting that the interests of the farmers will be protected by enlarging the irrigation facilities and a Mission will be launched to increase food production by rapidly developing the agriculture sector. The available irrigation facilities should be utilised to the maximum extent possible. A large number of anicuts have been constructed over canals and rivers. Solar-energy driven pumps can help the farmers to a large extent, he had stated.
Notably, Chhattisgarh confirmed participation to borrow `600 crore under State Development loans during the period October-December 2015, according to a press release of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued last year.
The RBI in consultation with the State Governments, had announced that the quantum of total market borrowings by the State Governments and the Union Territory of Puducherry, for the quarter October- December 2015, is expected to be in the range of `75,000 crore to `80,000 crore.
The actual amount of borrowings and the details of the states participating would be intimated by RBI prior to the actual auction day and would depend on the requirement of the State Governments, approval from the Government of India under Article 293(3) of the Constitution of India and the market conditions.
The RBI would endeavour to conduct the auctions in a non-disruptive manner, taking into account the market conditions and other relevant factors and distribute the borrowings evenly throughout the quarter, it had stated.
RBI reserves the right to modify the dates and the amount of auction in consultation with State Governments, it had stated.