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Punjab saw record 45% jump in excise revenue, says finance minister Harpal Cheema
Finance minister said that due to the increase in revenue, it has been possible to increase the budget by 20% for the agriculture sector and 12% for education, besides ensuring a substantial increase in other important sectors
Punjab Vidhan Sabha on Saturday passed the Punjab Appropriation Bill, 2023, tabled by finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema.
Giving his reply on the general discussion on budget estimates, the finance minister said a considerable hike has been recorded in revenue receipts, which enabled the Punjab Government to earmark record outlay in major sectors, including education and agriculture.
He said a 45% hike has been recorded in excise revenue, and the opposition should appreciate the efforts rather than oppose the policy for political reasons.
“LoP Partap Bajwa often targets us on this excise policy. Reality is we have increased our revenue by using this policy,” said Cheema.
He said that the government has registered a 26% increase in non-tax revenue, besides recording a 23% hike in state GST and a 19% and 12% increase has been registered from stamp and registration and taxes on vehicles, respectively.
He said that due to the increase in revenue, it has been possible to increase the budget by 20% for the agriculture sector and 12% for education, besides ensuring a substantial increase in other important sectors.
Talking about the loan availed by the Punjab government, the finance minister said that the Punjab government has availed a loan of ₹28,592 crore from the year 2007-2012, ₹99,304 crore from 2012 to 2017, and ₹99,505 crore from 2017 to 2022.
“Punjab government has been working strictly according to the law, and the loan was taken within the permissible limits. The government has been ensuring the payment of the loan in a timely manner. We have also repaid a total of ₹36,046 crore of debt, including principal payment of ₹15,946 crore and interest payment of ₹20,100 crore,” the finance minister said.
He said that apart from this, Punjab Government has deposited ₹3,000 crore in the consolidated fund in the last one year, while only ₹2,900 crore was deposited in this fund in the five years of the previous government.
Referring to the assistance of ₹2,000 crore provided to bailout various government agencies, the finance minister said that the state government has provided assistance of ₹885 crore to the Punjab Cooperative Agriculture Development Bank, ₹300 crore to Punsup, ₹400 crore to Sugarfed, ₹135 crore to District Cooperative Banks, ₹36 crore to Milkfed, and ₹10 Crore to Fazilka Sugar Mill.
Meanwhile, BJP member Ashwani Sharma cornered the government on the pre-poll announcement of the Aam Aadmi Party of providing ₹1000 to each woman.
“Where is the money in the budget for fulfilling the promise of giving Old Pension Scheme promised for employees?” questioned Sharma.
The BJP MLA also said the Bhagwant Mann-led state government has miserably failed to take benefit of the Central Schemes as the state’s interests have been compromised due to political affiliations.
Congress member Sandeep Jakhar said the budget has grossly missed provisions for Solar-power, drip irrigation and other key components linked with agriculture and horticulture.
Congress member Vikramjit Singh Chaudhary targeted the government for playing politics over the issue of sanctioning ₹25 crore to Dera Sachkhand Ballan that would be spent to spread the teachings of Guru Ravidas.
“This money was sanctioned during the tenure of Charanjit Singh Channi as chief minister, but when AAP came to power they brought back the money from the district administration. Now, again this money has been sanctioned keeping in mind the by-election for Jalandhar Lok Sabha polls,” Chaudhary claimed.
SAD member Dr Sukhwinder Sukhi said the government has only done big talks about the development of Dalits in the budget document but practically nothing much has been sanctioned for their welfare.
“Schedule Castes has 40% population in Punjab. But this government has only kept a mere ₹13,888 crore for the SC sub-plan. As far as I know, the Centre never ignores the state’s demands under the SC sub-plan. What welfare will you do with this meagre amount,” said the SAD MLA.
AAP member and power minister Harbhajan Singh ETO termed the budget as a road map of the government for the future of Punjab. “Zero power bills for 90% of the population was the biggest relief ever to the people of the state,” he said.
