PORVORIM: With 62 percent of the last year’s budget yet to be materialised, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday tabled the 2023-24 Budget with several new initiatives. However, pinpointed targeting on revenue generation missed the mark. Getting the fuel to fuel his budget ambitions is the challenge.
The Chief Minister on Wednesday presented Rs 26,844.40 crore Budget, which is up by 9.71 percent from 2022-23 when the total outlay was of Rs 24,467 crore. The State economy is expected to grow at Rs 12.09 per cent in the coming FY.
The total receipts projected are showing a growth of 12.53% over 2022-23. The fiscal deficit is estimated to be Rs. 4,183.10 crore of the total expenditure, 28.4 per cent of the revenue will be spent towards payment of salaries; wages, pension, and gratuity while another 19.8 per cent on infrastructure. The State will also shell out 15.7 per cent of revenue towards clearing debts.
While attempting a careful balancing act with the imposition of no new taxes, spelling out schemes for cross sections, he failed to cheer the youth.
In the last Budget too, the Sawant-led govt avoided imposing or increasing taxes as a measure for garnering revenues, to revive the economy. This year the government has been unable to highlight the source of income generation, except from iron ore mining activities, where it pegged revenue to Rs 1,000 crore. The State is set to e-auction 25 ore blocks in the coming fiscal.
Sawant admitted that due to the discontinuation of GST compensation, the State will see a revenue deficit of approximately Rs 800 crore through Central grants.
However, the same, he says will be majorly filled by revenue collection from the initiatives taken by State for restarting of mining activities and increase in the share of Goa in Central Taxes.
The Chief Minister is also banking on the departments of commercial taxes, excise, and registration to shoot up its revenue to meet the required surplus demand.
“This year without burdening my Goan brothers and sisters, I have brought in various reforms and have taken care of each and every sector right from farmers, taxi operators, industries, etc. Will also take strict enforcement measures with which I expect to mobilise additional revenue to the State government. The action on this will be visible in due course of time,” Sawant said in a post-Budget press conference.
The CM said that due to financial reforms, they have ended up with a revenue surplus of Rs 59.39 crore (2022-23) as against projections of Rs 58.46 crore in FY 2021-22 despite the Covid pandemic disrupting the State’s economy.
As per the data provided, the government is likely to generate 37.9 per cent of its revenue from State’s own tax revenue and another 26.6 per cent from State’s own non-tax revenue. Another 17.4 per cent is its share from Central taxes while 10.8 per cent are its estimated borrowings from the market.
Addressing reporters after presenting the Budget, Sawant said that the focus of his Budget is on Swayampurna Goa 2.0, mining resumption, revenue generation and infrastructure creation including health, green energy promotion, and ease of doing business.
The government has given a significant boost to the Education Sector by increasing its overall budget outlay by 16 per cent along with 18 per cent for the health sector.
The Public Works Department has witnessed a 28 per cent increase in Budget allocation with a major focus on various highway expansion projects. The Budget allocation of almost all the departments has seen a rise.
The budget has announced an allocation of Rs 262.85 crore, an increase of 6.34 per cent over the last year, for the Tourism Department.
To plug revenue leakage, the government has decided to form a special task force to crack down on businesses running without registration, he said.
