Schemes galore but no clear development road map

The Budget in the hill state has never been seen as a serious document; there are barely any announcements to spur growth

If you ask Uttarakhand Finance Minister Prakash Pant to highlight some of the significant announcements in the Budget that he presented in the state Assembly, he would quickly count more than a dozen new schemes mostly in the social sector.

But the fact is the Budget in the hill state is never seen as a serious document. After the inception of Uttarakhand, all the Budgets presented in the state Assembly have remained taxfree, with hardly any new announcements to spur growth.

The trend contin- ued in 2017-18 when Pant presented his maiden Budget in the House. The Budget in the hill state remains just a legal obligation, which has to be completed every year. But Pant claimed the government would focus on the forest, mining and power sectors to double growth in non-tax revenue as compared to the last fiscal.

“Despite the huge debt burden of over ~44,000 crore on our state, we have tried our best to balance the Budget by increasing non-tax revenue targets in the forest, power and mining sectors,” said Pant.

Nevertheless, some of the highlights of the Budget cannot be ignored. For example, the state will grow at 8.7 per cent — well above the projected national growth rate.

Though on the development front, the new Trivendra Singh Rawat government has shied away from presenting a clear road map, a couple of the developmental schemes are worth mentioning. The Budget document says the all-weather road for the Char Dham area, a central government-sponsored project that is being constructed with an investment of ~11,000 crore, will be completed by 2020. If this happens, the all-weather road will boost tourism in the state where landslides and flash floods cause havoc almost every year.

The government has also drawn up a new start-up policy to attract investments worth ~500 crore. It intends to open new incubation centres with special focus on university students through skill development. New skill development centres would be set up. Investment meets would also be organised to provide impetus to the policy. The state Cabinet has already given its nod. However, a government notification is awaited. “Investments in Uttarakhand would be welcomed through new hassle-free policies,” said Pant.

With a focus on boosting the hydropower sector, the government has made a commitment to resume construction of stalled projects in the hill state following the central government’s revival package. Close to 24 big hydel projects were stalled soon after the 2013 deluge that brought death and devastation to the hill state. Priority would be given to river projects in the hydropower sector so that the flow of rivers is not obstructed.

Non-tax revenue in the power sector has swelled to ~300 crore this fiscal from ~130.08 crore in the last financial year. Similarly, non-tax revenues in the forest and mining sectors, respectively have shot up to ~500 crore and ~620 crore from ~322.31 crore and ~335 crore, respectively last year.

Significantly, the total Budget of ~39,957.79 crore came with a revenue surplus of ~42.26 crore. In the past three years, the Budget witnessed a revenue deficit. The fiscal deficit is at 2.37 per cent of the gross state domestic product within the prescribed limit of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act. Though Pant proposed no new tax in the Budget, Opposition members alleged that the government had already increased tariffs for water and electricity in the state.

“The government has made a fool of the common people by claiming that it has not proposed any new tax in the Budget given that electricity and water tariffs had already been hiked,” said Indira Hridayesh, leader of the Opposition.

Revenue receipts are pegged at ~31,593.08 crore. Tax receipts are likely to touch ~18,131.13 crore, with a growth of 15.23 per cent. Tax revenue for the year stands at 20,893.76 crore. Revenue expenditure is expected to be ~31,550.83 crore, which constitutes 78.96 per cent of the total expenditure. Capital expenditure is expected to be ~8,406.96 crore.

In the Budget, the government also announced it would set up a mega food park at Kashipur town in Udhamsingh district, in which the Centre has committed to provide a grant of ~50 crore.

Jolly Grant and Pantnagar, Naini Saini, Chinyalisaur and Gauchar airports would be upgraded for landing large aircraft.

Poor and meritorious students in the general category aspiring for higher education would be provided scholarships, laptops and smartphones.

For attracting tourists, the government would set up eco-parks in various areas of the state.