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Pramod Sawant presents Goa Budget; No new taxes, focus on revival of mining
In his first budget after taking charge as the chief minister of Goa for the second term, Pramod Sawant has promised to reboot the state’s economy.
PANAJI: Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant presented the state budget for 2022-23 in the legislative assembly on Wednesday with a focus on revival of mining and rebooting of the economy with no new taxes.
Sawant presented a budget (expenditure) worth ₹24467.40 crore of which 17097.50 is revenue expenditure while 7369.90 is capital expenditure
Presenting his first budget after taking charge as the chief minister for the second term earlier this week on Monday, Sawant said that his priorities were to tackle rising unemployment, which he admitted was a problem, and revive the tourism and mining sectors. He also promised a renewed focus on hinterland tourism through a specially drafted policy.
“In spite of the Covid pandemic running its course for the second consecutive year, the Gross State Domestic Product estimates at current prices for the year 2022-23 is estimated at ₹91,416.98 crore indicating a growth rate of 7.07%,” Sawant said.
The budgeted expenditure is around 16% higher than what was projected during the budget presented last year. Sawant has, however, declined to introduce any new taxes or cess, instead promises to plug revenue leaks and strengthen monitoring mechanisms to achieve his revenue targets.
“In this year, I do not propose to levy any additional taxes on our Goans but I will work thoroughly to get in more reforms in various revenue generating departments. Over these years, I have realised that increasing revenue does not necessarily imply increasing the taxes but also plugging revenue leakages and undertaking reforms which will curtail the expenditure on redundant activities,” Sawant said.
“This year without burdening my Goan brothers and sisters, I will bring in various reforms, rationalise the tax slabs on various components and undertake strict enforcement measures with which I expect to mobilise additional revenue to the state government. The action will be visible in due course of time,” he said.
“My government has taken real steps to restart mining. As part of this we have activated a ‘dump policy’. We have set up a Mining Corporation to restart mining at full strength in order that the mining dependents can once again earn their livelihoods from the industry. I am confident that for the current financial year we will earn revenue of ₹650 crore from the sector,” Sawant said.
On Tourism, Sawant announced an ‘eco-tourism’ policy which will lay emphasis on active participation of local people to provide them gainful employment opportunities.”
“My government is making efforts to boost Eco- Tourism in the hinterland, especially in and around incredibly rich forests and wildlife areas of the state. For this purpose, we will come up with a “Eco-tourism Policy” which will lay emphasis on active participation of local people to provide them gainful employment opportunities. Adequate publicity of Ecotourism sites and facilities will also be made through various platforms, including social media,” he said.
“A draft Zonal Master Plan for ecologically sensitive areas around wildlife protected land in the state of Goa has been prepared and the same will be notified shortly,” he added.
Among other environmental initiatives, the chief minister announced the setting up of 38 Early Warning Dissemination Towers to warn and alert about impending disasters such as cyclone, Tsunami, etc. along the coast line as well as the purchase of 100 additional AC Electric buses.
The opposition has, however, criticised the budget claiming that it was nothing but “wishful thinking.”
“The budget they have presented is empty talk; it is like a dream that is not going to fructify. The chief minister has made a lot of announcements but he hasn’t said where he is going to get the money from,” Congress leader Digambar Kamat said in his reaction to the budget speech.
