Haryana contributed 3.7% to India’s GDP, 6% to GST collections in 2023-24: Dalal

Haryana finance minister Jai Prakash Dalal, who was in Delhi to attend a pre-budget meeting held under the chairmanship of Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, said the Haryana government has taken several steps to enhance social security within the state

Haryana finance minister Jai Prakash Dalal on Saturday said even though the state accounts for 2.09% of India’s population and 1.34% of the total geographical area, the state contributed 3.7% to the country’s GDP and 6% to the total GST collection in 2023-24.

Haryana finance minister Jai Prakash Dalal said the amount under the “Old Age Samman Allowance” scheme and other social security pensions have been increased to ₹3,000 per month, which is the highest in the country. (Twitter)

Dalal, who was in Delhi to attend a pre-budget meeting held under the chairmanship of Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman with finance ministers of all states and union territories, said the Haryana government has taken several steps to enhance social security within the state.

He said the amount under the “Old Age Samman Allowance” scheme and other social security pensions have been increased to ₹3,000 per month, which is the highest in the country. He said the total number of beneficiaries has also increased to about 32 lakhs, while the budget provision for various social security pensions has been raised to ₹12,000 crore, which is 6.30% of the 2024-25 budget.

Stating that the Union government released a grant of ₹250 crore in November 2022 for 2021-22 and 2022-23, which was 2.83% of the total expenditure of ₹8,821 crore incurred by the state government on social security pension schemes in 2022-23, the minister suggested that the Union government should either increase the rate of financial assistance under the proposed social security schemes or share the burden of this expenditure with the state.

The finance minister said Haryana is an integral part of the NCR, as 57% of the state’s land area (14 districts) falls within the NCR. Currently, a significant amount of resources are being spent from its limited resources to meet the demands of infrastructure, water supply and sanitation, urban development and connectivity in the NCR. The Haryana government ensures adequate water supply to Delhi as per norms. Additionally, due to uncontrolled and rapid urbanisation in its NCR region, the state has to spend extra amounts to control pollution levels, groundwater depletion, etc.

For this, Dalal said the state government needs additional allocation of grant-in-aid for the NCR.

He said the scheme of Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment should be continued in the future as it incentivises funding for infrastructure projects in the states. He suggested that the allocation to the state under this scheme could be increased based on Haryana’s 6% contribution to GST collection or its 3.7% contribution to the national GDP in 2023-24.