Haryana FM worried over fiscal health of the state

Haryana is scouting for alternative means of revenue generation to combat the tight fiscal health of the state. State Finance Minister Captain Ajay Singh Yadav told Business Standard that a meeting of resource mobilisation committee had been called under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh to discuss the new avenues for revenue generation.

The state is likely to have a projected deficit of Rs 3,300 crore.

Yadav assumed the charge of finance minister in November this year in the new government and was the irrigation minister in the last tenure of the Congress government in the state. He apprised that the pay revision of the government employees as per the recommendations of the 6th Pay Commission put a burden of Rs 4,500 crore on the state government. He added that 40 per cent of the dues had already been disbursed and the balance would be paid in two equal installments in the successive years.

The fall in the licence fees collected from the colonisers for the change of land use also hit the revenues of the state that was a fallout of slowdown in the economy.

The burden of power subsidy to agriculture sector increased from Rs 900 crore to Rs 3,500 crore was substantial, he said.

Yadav added that they also would have to absorb an approximate loss of Rs 600 crore of purchase tax if the GST regime was implemented.

“These are all the areas of concern which we have to take into account before the preparation of budget 2010-11” he said.

According to Yadav, the budget would lay focus on the development of infrastructure particularly in NCR as it would help them attract more investments. The areas of health, education and social sector would also be on the priority for earmarking funds for the holistic development of the state.