COMMENTARY
INTERVIEWS
SPECIALS
CHAT
ARCHIVES

Uttar Pradesh deficit stands at Rs16.42 billion

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh today presented the state Budget for the year 1999-2000 showing a total deficit after adjustments of Rs 16.42 billion.

The deficit for the year 1999-2000 is Rs 34.59 billion while as per the revised estimates of 1998-99, the deficit was Rs 51.01 billion.

An amount of Rs 30.80 billion would be adjusted from public account funds to cover the deficit of consolidated fund while Rs 37.43 billion were taken from public account fund as per the revised estimate of year 1998-99.

After taking into account the opening balance of the year 1999-2000, the net deficit is estimated at Rs 7.72 billion.

The chief minister said the deficit would be met by controlling non-productive expenditure, checking tax-evasion and realising the revenue and tax arrears.

He said an entry tax to the tune of Rs 5 billion was expected to be realised, a proposal which had been sent to the President for approval during current year itself. If the same was formalised, the deficit would stand reduced to Rs 2.72 billion, he pointed out.

The total receipts for 1999-2000 are estimated at Rs 372.94 billion which included Rs 228.31 billion in revenue receipts and Rs 144.63 billion in capital receipts. The revenue receipts of 1999-2000 are higher by 21.4 per cent as compared to the revised estimates of the last year.

The total expenditure for the year is estimated at Rs 407.54 billion, inclusive of Rs 297.61 billion in revenue expenditure and Rs 109.92 billion in capital expenditure. It is 0.9 per cent less than the revised estimates of the last year.

No new tax was imposed in the current Budget.

Singh, in his Budget speech, said the government had decided to observe year 1999-2000 as the "year of decentralisation and people's participation."

He said the government would decentralise the powers for making the gram panchayats autonomous and matters like works, staff, budget and administrative powers of ten departments would be transferred to gram panchayats (village-level government) in the first phase. "Gram sabha would be made the unit of development," he pointed out.

Out of an interim outlay of Rs 114 billion proposed for the annual plan 1999-2000, he said Rs 11 billion would be directly transferred to gram panchayats for developments. Of the total interim outlay seventy per cent would be allocated for agriculture and rural development, he added.

The chief minister also announced the government's decision to impart free education to women upto graduation level.

He said the government had also decided to formulate population control policy as the population control would be given top priority in 1999-2000.

UNI

Business news

Uttar Pradesh