Discharged from hospital, Manohar Parrikar presents Rs 171-bn Goa budget

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Thursday presented in the state assembly a Rs 171 billion budget for 2018-19, an increase of 6.84 per cent over the ongoing fiscal, with a stress on education and job creation.

Parrikar, who was undergoing treatment at a Mumbai hospital for a pancreatic ailment, returned here this afternoon.

The chief minister was present in the assembly complex for half an hour, during which he chaired a meeting of his Cabinet, tabled the budget and witnessed the passage of vote-on-account for five months.

The budget session was curtailed to four days owing to Parrikar's ill-health.

In his speech in the House which lasted only five minutes, Parrikar said he could not present an elaborate budget because of his ill-health but would make a supplementary statement before the end of the current financial year.

The gross total budgetary expenditure is Rs 171.23 billion for the coming fiscal as against Rs 160.27 billion for 2017-18, an increase of 6.84 per cent.

The total estimated expenditure on revenue account is Rs 117.95 billion, while that on capital account is Rs 42.18 billion.

The allocation for capital account expenditure has been increased by 10.70 per cent against the revised estimate for the last year, which stood at Rs 38.08 billion.

Parrikar said that overall, for FY 2018-19, the annual financial statement indicates a revenue surplus for the fifth year in succession.

"The revenue surplus is estimated at Rs 1.44 billion," he said.

The chief minister said his government has put a stress on generating employment, for which Rs 5.48 billion has been allocated under the heads of industry, labour and employment and information and technology.

For the education sector (including medical education), a total of Rs 24.45 billion has been allocated.

Public debt receipts are estimated at Rs 17.69 billion, resulting in a fiscal deficit of Rs 7.63 billion, he said.

As per the Economic Survey 2017-18 tabled in the assembly, the gross state domestic product (GSDP) for 2017-18 is provisionally estimated to be Rs 702.57 billion, a growth of around 10 per cent over the previous fiscal.

The total public debt is estimated at Rs 139.37 billion. The public debt to GSDP ratio is, hence, 18.06 per cent.