Chhattisgarh State has continued to maintain revenue surplus and also kept fiscal deficit relative to Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) below the limit laid down under 13th Finance Commission and the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act, observed the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) on State Finances for the year ended March 31, 2013.
The report further observed: ‘However, the fiscal position of the State had declined in terms of key parameters. While revenue surplus decreased over the previous year, the fiscal deficit increased. Due to increase in fiscal deficit, the primary surplus during 2011-12 turned into primary deficit in 2012-13’.
The Fiscal liabilities at the end of the current year worked out to Rs 19,268 crore which was 12.03 per cent of the GSDP against the projection of 14.72 per cent made in the FRBM disclosures, the report stated. State’s revenue receipts increased by 14 per cent over the previous year mainly due to increase in own tax revenue by 22 per cent, it stated.
The State’s non tax revenue of Rs 4,616 crore was higher than the projection made by the 13th Finance Commission of Rs 2,652 crore but it could not achieve the targets fixed in the budget estimates of Rs 5,346 crore, the report stated.
The report recommended that the State government should make efforts for mobilizing non tax revenue as per the budget estimates in the coming years. The Capital expenditure during the year constituted 15 per cent of the total expenditure and increased by 21 per cent over the previous year. It was less than the projection made in the Budget estimates by 32 per cent, the report stated.