PANAJI
Pledging a whopping Rs 26,844.40 crore spend, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday presented a Budget spelling out welfare measures and government intervention for almost every section of the Goan populace. The catch, however, will lie in the delivery and pulling it off a feat by March next year.
In a speech which topped two hours and delivered intermittently in Konkani and English, Sawant spelt out something or the other for everyone -- from farmers to students, taxi businesses to MSMEs, government employees to daily wagers and people engaged in the unorganised sector.
Dwelling on the fiscal profile of his budget, the fourth he presented since taking over the reins of the State, Sawant said a revenue deficit of approximately Rs 800 crore cut in central funding this year due to the discontinuation of GST shortfall compensation but hoped to compensate for it from revenues earned through mining resumption and a spike in the State's share of Central taxes.
“Due to discontinuation of GST compensation, the State will see a revenue deficit of approximately Rs 800 crore through grants from Central government. This void will be majorly filled by revenue collection from initiatives taken by my government for restarting of mining activities and increase in the share of Goa in Central taxes,” Sawant said.
The chief minister also announced an allocation of Rs 300 crores for the eight G-20 meets Goa is going to host through the year.
"I am extremely proud to mention here that Goa is holding the maximum number of eight G-20 meetings. I thank the honourable Prime Minister for providing Goa with an opportunity to showcase its rich cultural diversity," Sawant said, adding that a total Budget of Rs 300 crore has been earmarked for it across various departments.
Sawant also said an additional Rs 15 crore has been set aside for hosting other prestigious international events such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
Also, Goa is finally set to host the National Games this year and Sawant said an amount of Rs 225 crore has been set aside for it.
Sawant has also projected a 12.53 per-cent increase in revenue receipts over and above the aggregate government income projected in the revised estimates for the current financial year.
He added, that the government has ended up with a revenue surplus of Rs 59.39 crore in the current 2022-23 financial year as against projections of Rs 58.46 crore in FY 2021-22, despite the disruption in the State's economy due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“For FY 2023-24, the estimated revenue surplus is Rs 669.46 crore,” Sawant said.
On borrowings and the State's debt scenario, Sawant said the Centre has capped the fiscal deficit to GSDP ratio at 3.5 per cent for 2023-24 even as it has permitted carrying forward the unutilised proportion of the permitted level of borrowings of the previous year as per the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission.
Meanwhile, Sawant made hefty increases in allocations for some of the key government departments -- health, power, public works, WRD and education among others.
New blood bank at GMC: The health sector for instance had a nearly 18% increase in allocations aggregating Rs 2,324.65 crore, including a robust Rs 179.19 crore for infra at the State's premier Goa Medical College and Hospital where new blocks for the blood bank and a respiratory medicine (TB & Chest) hospital.
PWD gets 28% fund hike: A massive Rs 2,687.5 crore has been allocated to the PWD, a sizeable 28% increase from the current year. This allocation includes the Rs 2.5-crore per constituency aggregating Rs 60 crore under a MLA local area development scheme (MLA-LAD).
For the power sector, Sawant has hiked the allocation by 21.98% to Rs 3856.36 crore, but did not highlight any new initiatives of the department in his speech other than saying that thrust will be laid to augment solar power generation.
The education sector, including higher education and technical education, saw an increase in allocations of nearly 19 per cent at Rs 4,323.98 crore, which Sawant said will mostly go into school education (Rs 2,194.03 crore).
Nearly Rs 100-crores will be reserved for upgrading infrastructure and also renovating school edifices.
