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Meghalaya budget has a separate section on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
For the first time, the Meghalaya budget has a separate section on the funding for sustainable development goals in the state.
SHILLONG: Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K Sangma on Wednesday tabled a ₹1,849 crore deficit budget in the assembly for the financial year 2022-2023 which is 4.5 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP).
For the first time, there is a separate section on the funding for sustainable development goals in the state. Money allocated for the youngsters and women have been separately earmarked.
The total receipts are pegged at ₹18,700 crore, of which the revenue receipts are estimated at ₹16,035 crore and capital receipts at ₹2,665 crore, the chief minister said in his budget speech.
Excluding borrowings of ₹2,632 crore, the total receipts are estimated to be ₹16,068 crore, he said adding that the total expenditure is pegged at ₹18,881 crore, of which the revenue expenditure is estimated at ₹15,376 crore and capital expenditure at ₹3,505 crore.
Sangma who also holds the finance department, said the estimated total expenditure is ₹17,917 crore excluding repayment of loans of ₹964 crore. He said interest payments for 2022-23 is estimated at ₹1,110 crore and pension payments at ₹1,469 crore.
“I am, therefore, presenting the budget of 2022-23 with a fiscal deficit of ₹1,849 crore, which is around 4.5 per cent of the GSDP,” Sangma said.
He said that fundamental changes have been made in the budgeting system where the plan and non-plan dichotomy has been done away with. “I am presenting a Gender budget, a Youth budget and a Sustainable Development Goals budget,” he said.
Combining all the investments being proposed for women for 2022-23, Sangma said, “The size of the gender budget comes to ₹2,495 crore. This constitutes about 13 per cent of the total budget size and is 20 per cent higher than the allocations for the current financial year,” adding, “Aggregating all the investments being proposed for youth in 2022-23, the size of the youth budget comes to ₹1,363 crore. This constitutes about 7 per cent of the total budget size.”
To achieve the sustainable development goals, Sangma said this year the SDG budget has been formulated which lays out the allocations made for the achievement of the various SDGs.
“Out of the total expenditure estimate of ₹18,881 crore, ₹9,182 crore will be spent for the improvement of the various SDG indicators. This is an increase of about 19 per cent over the current financial year,” he said.
He also reiterated the vision for Meghalaya to be amongst the top 10 states by 2030.
Stating that the Covid-19 pandemic has caused economic disruptions on a large scale, Sangma said, “However, with the increased government spending and other measures, the economy is on a recovery path.”
“The state’s GSDP for the current financial year is pegged at ₹37,494 crore. Given the positive outlook for the economy, the GSDP estimate for 2022-23 stands at ₹41,10 crore,” he said while adding that for the current financial year, the state government received ₹5,851 crore as share of central taxes against the original estimates of ₹5,105 crore.
Under the Special Capital Assistance Program, the Union finance ministry has also sanctioned ₹300 crore for taking up various capital projects. “These additional funds are a welcome relief to the state government, and I would like to express my gratitude to the Prime Minister and the union finance minister,” he said while informing that for 2022-23, the state’s share of central taxes is estimated at ₹6,264 crore.
“The state will also be receiving ₹1,033 crore as revenue deficit grant, ₹76 crore as grants for disaster management, ₹140 crore for the Autonomous District Councils, ₹69 crore for Urban Local Bodies and ₹9 crore as grants for the health sector. The total transfers from the Government of India excluding the scheme related transfers are estimated at ₹7,641 crore,” he explained.
The CM further said that the Centre has increased the size of Special Capital Assistance pool from ₹15,000 crore to ₹1 lakh crore. Out of this, ₹614 crore has been allocated to Meghalaya for taking up various capital works in 2022-23.
He said the own-tax revenue of the state for the current financial year, including GST compensation, is expected to touch ₹2,213 crore. This includes an anticipated excise revenue of ₹300 crore.
“Over the last four years, this government has been making concerted efforts to increase the state’s revenue base and these efforts are yielding results. For the year 2022-23, I am estimating the overall tax revenues to be ₹2,625 crore, out of which excise revenue is estimated at ₹350 crore,” he said. According to him, the non-tax revenue collection during the current financial year is expected to touch ₹541 crore.
He said the government is taking steps to auction a large proportion of the 32 lakh metric tons of the extracted coal. “I also expect to generate significant additional revenue through the initiation of scientific mining in the state,” the chief minister said.
With the ministry of coal having already given approvals for prospecting operations for 17 applicants, Sangma said, “Given this, I am estimating the non-tax revenue to be ₹731 crore.” He further said that overall central transfers and state’s own resources are estimated at ₹10,189 crore.
Reiterating that the state’s financial performance on various centrally sponsored schemes and the externally aided projects has been robust, Sangma said, “I expect the state’s overall expenditure for the current financial year to touch an all-time high of ₹15,600 crore. This is a 13 percent increase over the expenditure of the previous financial year and a 58 percent increase over the expenditure in 2017-18 when my government came to power.”
Projecting an overall expenditure of ₹18,881 crore for 2022-23, the chief minister said out of this, ₹14,448 crore will come from state resources and the rest will be leveraged from central resources.
“The revenue expenditure is estimated at ₹15,376 crore and the capital expenditure is estimated at ₹3,505 crore,” he said while announcing that the projected capital expenditure is the highest in the history of the state and will propel the infrastructure growth in line with the thrust given by the Centre.
The chief minister further said that his government is investing ₹350 crore with assistance from the World Bank to improve the overall health infrastructure in the state. All the 659 health centres will be upgraded within the next five years.
“I am allocating an amount of 60 crore for the Meghalaya Health Systems Strengthening Project. I am also allocating ₹1,617 crore for the entire health sector, an increase of 28 percent over the allocation in the current financial year,” he said.
