The AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu, led by chief minister J Jayalalithaa on Thursday presented its first budget after coming to power.
After eliminating the previous year?s revenue deficit of R2,720 crore, the state government has presented a revenue surplus of R173.87 crore in the budget, without proposing any fresh taxes.
The budget has also allocated R8,900 crore towards new schemes and additional benefits.
The state?s capital expenditure for the year under review has been pegged at R15,877.58 crore. Also, this is for the first time that the Budget size has exceeded the R1 lakh crore mark.
Tamil Nadu finance minister O Panneerselvam said the overall outstanding debt at the end of 2011-12 was expected to be around R1,18,610 crore as against R1,01,349 crore at the end of March 31, 2011.
Projecting the net borrowings at R17.261 crore in the current financial year, he said the proposed borrowings were unavoidable to keep up the pace of development activities in the state. Panneerselvam added he expected the borrowings to come down in future on an increased pace of expansion in the economy.
As part of the revised budget estimates, the total revenue receipts have been pegged at R85,685 crore. The state?s own revenue is projected at R59,787 crore and non-tax revenue at R5,015 crore. The share of the Union taxes and the grant-in-aid from the Centre is projected at R13,111 crore and R7,772 crore, respectively. The total revenue expenditure is projected at R85,511 crore, leaving a marginal revenue surplus of R173.87 crore, Panneerselvam pointed out.
With an increase of 27.5% in the current year?s capital outlay to R15,877.59 crore, the projected fiscal deficit will be at R16,881 crore, which is 2.90% of GSDP, well within the norms prescribed by the 13th Finance Commission, he said.
As a result of economic recovery and other austerity measures by the state government, the state?s own tax revenue is expected to grow 18% and 15% for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 financial years, respectively. The projected growth in 2012-13 is higher as compared to 2013-14 to factor in the full impact of the rate revision in the state?s own taxes during 2012-13, he added.
According to the finance minister, in order to offset the ever increasing power deficit of around 2,500 mw to 3,500 mw per day, the state government has been involved in a number of initiatives, including speeding up the power projects. These projects are expected to add 5,100 mw during the next five years.
He said the state government would come out with a new industrial policy in 2011, besides formulating specific policies for automobiles, auto components, biotechnology, information technology and pharmaceuticals. The state will also constitute a Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Development Board under the chairmanship of the chief minister, which will continuously identify project concepts, facilitate their execution after due evaluation and achieve financial closure either directly through government agencies or through the public-private partnership mode. The government will examine providing additional incentives to encourage investments in the MSME sector and as part of this it will provide industries with 3% interest rebate.
On the healthcare side, apart from bringing out a comprehensive health insurance scheme, a special initiative to establish a super-speciality centre at a cost of R100 crore will be introduced soon. Chennai mega city development plan programmes would be introduced with an estimated outlay of R1,250 crore.