Rs 644.81 crore tax-free deficit Budget for Arunachal Pradesh

Budget Highlights

Digital Café in every Government Library with e-Granthalay.

4G services to 1,683 villages.

Insurance cover of Rs 2 lakh to all contingency workers.

Rs 10 crore for implementation of 'Arunachal Pradesh Start-up Policy'.

Rs 123 budgetary provision for Panchayati Raj institutions.

Upgradation of Bakin Pertin General Hospital at Pasighat with Rs 20 crore allocation.

Rs 15 crore allocation for 'Chief Minister's Nasha Mukti Abhiyan'.

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ITANAGAR: Arunachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein on Monday presented a Rs 644.81 crore deficit Budget for the 2022-23 fiscal in the State Assembly without proposing any new tax and laying emphasis on financial management, health, education and environment protection.

The State Government projected total receipts of Rs 26,111.63 crore for the next financial year, which is 15.64 per cent higher than the total receipts of Rs 22,581 crore in Budget estimates of 2021-22, he said.

"In the Budget estimates of 2022-23, we are projecting revenue receipts of Rs 24,253.54 crore and capital receipts of Rs 1,858.09 crore," Mein, who also holds finance, investment and planning portfolios, said in his speech.

"We have tried to assimilate our collective experiences from the COVID-19 pandemic in this Budget as building blocks so as to make Arunachal future-ready," the Deputy CM said.

He also mentioned that the State's share of Central taxes has been pegged at Rs 14,348.54 crore as per the Union Budget 2022-23.

"It is 10 per cent more than the revised estimates of 2021-22. In addition, we have projected State's own tax revenue at Rs 2,090 crore, while the non-tax revenue has been estimated at Rs 935 crore," Mein said.

The State's own revenue generation is estimated at Rs 3,025 crore for 2022-23 fiscal, which is a 10 per cent increase over the revised estimate of 2021-22, the Finance Minister said.

The Government projected a revenue expenditure of Rs 18,201.55 crore for FY 23, as against the Budget estimates of Rs 15,344.32 crore in 2021-22.

Mein also said that capital expenditure, including loan components, was estimated at Rs 7,507.81 crore in the next fiscal as compared to Rs 6,968.68 crore in the current financial year.

"The focus of the Government has been and will be on increasing capital expenditure to create socially and economically productive assets for accelerated development of the State," he said. For FY23, the Arunachal Pradesh Government was able to keep the fiscal deficit at an estimated 2.20 per cent of Gross State Domestic Product, "which is not only within the norms of targets laid down in the Arunachal Pradesh Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2006 but also at almost the same level as BE 2021-22," he said.

The Deputy Chief Minister said that the Government has declared FY23 as 'Year of e-Governance' under which 22 projects would be taken up.

"With a focus on improving quality education, infrastructure is being developed in institutions. The expenditure on the education sector is 11.34 per cent of the total plan expenditure," he said.

The Government is upgrading 18 district hospitals in the State with an amount of Rs 250 crore.

Sixty identified primary and community health centres would be upgraded to model facilities.

Under the Atma Nirbhar Arunachal Pradesh programme, several initiatives in agriculture, plantation, animal husbandry and fishery would be initiated with Rs 310 crore as front-end subsidy, which would generate a huge consequential investment of Rs 650 crore in these sectors, Mein said.

"Arunachal emerged as the first State in the country, and possibly among the first sub-national efforts globally, to affirm its commitments on climate change responsive and resilient actions through the 'Pakke Declaration'," he said adding, the State Government has initiated carbon credit trading from this year.

The 'Pakke Declaration' is aimed at "climate-resilient development" in the State. The State Government has taken up a comprehensive project to strengthen infrastructure in border villages to mitigate the issue of migration to urban areas.

"We have submitted a Rs 4,000-crore proposal to the Union Home Ministry as part of the plan. The project aims at building roads, health centres and educational institutions, besides electrifying villages, and augmenting water supply," Mein said. He also proposed to make an allocation of Rs 25 crore for integrated development of border villages over and above normal allocations under the Border Area Development programme.

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