Hyderabad, February 23: Finance Minister Anam Ramnarayan Reddy will present his maiden budget for the State for 2011-12 in the Assembly with an outlay which is likely to be around Rs 1.25 lakh crore and without a proposal to impose any fresh tax.
Indications were available on Tuesday that the budget, like in the past since 2005-06, would be revenue-surplus, with overall projected revenue receipts expected from all sources exceeding expenditure.
The Minister, who signed the budget papers after a brief meeting with Finance Department officials, said he was fortunate to be the second person from Simhapuri (Nellore) to present the budget for the State after Bezwarda Gopala Reddy who handled the job in 1956 as Chief Minister.
Being his first budget presentation, Mr. Ramnarayan Reddy has decided to begin reading it at 11.43 a.m., as he considers it an auspicious time. Roads & Buildings Minister Dharmana Prasada Rao will simultaneously read out the budget speech in the Legislative Council.
He said the budget, to be approved by the Cabinet at its special meeting on the Assembly premises shortly before its presentation, would strike a balance between welfare and development in allocations, though with the singular emphasis on the happiness of the common man. “A lot of consultation was made while formulating it.” The Kiran Kumar Reddy government is presenting the budget when the State is passing through a difficult time due to a crunch on account of agitations being undertaken for and against formation of Telangana state.
The revenue loss suffered following the changed situation since December 2009 is estimated at over Rs. 20,000 crore. Revenue accruals fell by Rs. 750 crore additionally as a result of the non-cooperation agitation by Telangana employees so far.
Although the budget outlay will exceed the Rs. 1 lakh crore for the third consecutive year, doubts are being expressed in some quarters if the government will be able to spend this much, given the difficult circumstances.
The overall revenue accruals for 2010-11 fiscal for which a Rs 1.13 lakh crore budget was adopted, fell by 8 per cent compared to the departmental targets set, though they improved by 24 per cent compared to the previous year. Consequently, the 2010-11 budget is being cut by 15-20 per cent. Cuts will be imposed in the projected allocations to sectors like irrigation.
Fresh hikes
Another drawback is that the corresponding fresh hikes to the sectors will be absorbed by inflation which, adding to the woes of the State, prevails at 8 per cent. So, the impact of the increase in allocation to a sector, if any, will be marginal. Officials, however, justify the higher outlay on the plea that it will provide the much needed feeling of buoyancy leading to better economic activity.
-Agencies