Finance Minister Ajanta Neog on March 16 tabled the State’s Budget on the floor of the Assam Legislative Assembly for the financial year 2023-24. It is aimed at laying a strong foundation for a ‘Resurgent Assam’, while signalling the continuation of the growth trajectory that the Government of Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma has been pursuing ever since it came to power. The Budget for FY 2023-24 is aimed at an inclusive and holistic development with an uncompromising focus on capital expenditure, ease of living, creation of two lakh jobs, environmental sustainability, and climate change concerns in sync with the existing developmental processes of the economy.
Neog tabled the ₹ 935.23 cr deficit but capital-intensive budget, sans any fresh taxes, while detailing allocations for several key sectors including education, entrepreneurship and employment generation.
“Taking into account the expenditure of ₹ 1,79,326.48 cr under the public account and ₹ 2,000 cr under contingency fund, the aggregate expenditure for the year is estimated at ₹ 3,21,081.75 cr. The estimated transactions during the year will result in an estimated surplus of ₹ 660.96 cr. “This, together with the opening deficit of ₹ 1,596.19 cr will lead to a Budget deficit of ₹ 935.23 cr at the end of the year 2023-24,” the Minister said.
The Budget estimates for 2023-24 show a receipt of ₹ 1,39,443.88 cr under the Consolidated Fund of the State. Out of this,
₹ 1,14,084.69 cr is under the Revenue Account and the balance ₹ 25,359.19 cr is under the Capital Account.
The Minister, in her speech, claimed that with sustained efforts of her Government, the financial position of the State has improved considerably. “Our Government is confident of scripting a new history this year with GSDP touching around ₹ 5.50 lakh cr in 2023-24, as against ₹ 3.93 lakh cr in 2021-22. The per capita income of the State has also grown commensurately,” said Neog.
Neog said that the rising GDP reflects the State’s economic and financial growth. “One of the major contributors of this rising trend is the budgetary outlays and enhanced expenditures in recent years. Last year, we crossed the ₹ 1 lakh cr mark. This year in 2022-23, we hope to go even higher and achieve a figure of ₹ 1.20 lakh cr,” said the State Finance Minister.
Credit Deposit Ratio, indicating extension of credit to different sectors, has also increased from 50.7% in March 2020 to 57.5% in December 2022.
Neog said that during the period of FY 2017-18 to FY 2021-22, Assam achieved an annual average GSDP growth rate of 10.25% at current prices. This is one of the fastest growths in the country, despite the State facing COVID-19 pandemic along with the rest of the country and the world.
“Our Government has implemented a number of reform initiatives in the finance sector for ensuring transparency and accountability which has played a key role in significant growth in revenue collection. Today, our own revenue has increased to about ₹ 3,500 cr per month, which is sufficient to pay salary to Government employees from its own source,” she said. She added that the growth in State own source revenue is reflected in the collection of areas like Taxation, Excise, Forest, Land Revenue, Transport, etc. (Pl see graphics)
Citing the case of the Excise Department, MsNeog informed the House that it has been able to mop up ₹ 2,200 cr (up to February 2023), as against ₹ 1,674 cr collected for the corresponding period during 2021-22, registering an impressive growth of 31%.
Agriculture being the backbone of the State’s economy, continues to get special attention from the Government. She proposed extension of tax holiday on Agricultural Income Tax for the next three years. Similarly, to promote and incentivise the generation and consumption of green and clean energy by trade and industries, Neog has proposed to give exemption from payment of electricity duty on generation of power from renewable sources for captive consumption for one year and appealed to all to take advantage of this and contribute to the cause of renewable energy.
She announced motor vehicle tax subvention of 2% along with registration fee exemption to citizens buying EVs this year.
She said that the Assam Government has focused on improving tax collection and raising tax revenue through constitution of a GST Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU), a dedicated GST Audit Cell and institutional strengthening through capacity building of officers and exposure visits to top performing States.
