Meghalaya CM presents Rs 1,150 crore deficit budget

Shillong: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma today presented a Rs 1,150 crore deficit budget, highlighting that total receipts for 2018-19 will improve owing to higher central taxes share. He said the central taxes share is earmarked at Rs 5,059.77 crore and the government will grant mining leases for minor minerals to generate revenue from royalty.

I am, therefore, presenting the budget of 2018-19 with a fiscal deficit of Rs 1,150 crore which is around 3.32 per cent of GSDP, Conrad said in his budget speech. Estimating the total receipts at Rs 14,104 crore, he said the revenue receipts are estimated at Rs 12,531 crore and capital receipts at Rs 1,573 crore.

The total receipts saw a nominal increase of Rs 1,594 crore from last year s projected receipt. The total expenditure is estimated at Rs 14,101 crore of which the revenue expenditure is estimated to be at Rs 12,036 crore while Rs 2,065 crore as capital expenditure, he said. The chief minister admitted that the spill over impact of the National Green Tribunal ban on coal mining on the economy of the state is still restricting the state from realising its full revenue potential.

He, however, said the recent relaxation on sale of liquor has slightly improved the revenue collection during the past one year. Conrad said the advanced estimates for Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) for 2017-18 is Rs 31,290 crore, an increase of 10 per cent over last year s current market price of Rs 28,445 crore which showed an increase of 9.5 per cent over last year s figures.

He said the growth of the tertiary sector is registered at 7.24 per cent and that of secondary and primary sector at 16.59 per cent and 2.71 per cent, respectively. The chief minister also informed that the per capita income of the state at current price for 2017-18 stands at Rs 89,432 showing an increase of about 5.04 per cent as compared to last year s 8.26 per cent.

The new Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government under the leadership of Conrad K Sangma also spelt out key measures the government will take to generate additional resources. “The government is taking measures to strengthen the enforcement machinery to realise higher revenue under Goods and Services Tax (GST(, grant mining lease to minor minerals to generate revenue from royalty,” he said.

Assuring that the state will meet its committed and unavoidable expenditures, the chief minister said, The government is committed to strictly implement and reinforce fiscal austerity measures and avoid all wasteful expenditures.  He also said the state will appropriately make submissions before the 15th Finance Commission to help improve the socio economic and administrative set up.

The Commission is set to submit its report by October 2019 and its five year award period will cover the year 2020 up to 2025.