Assam Finance Minister tables budget

Considering the vision document of the BJP-led Assam government, state Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday tabled the Budget 2017-18 with a deficit of Rs 2,349.79 crore.

"The Budget estimates show a receipt of Rs 84,732.16 crore under the consolidated fund of state, of which Rs 70,719.61 crore is on revenue account and the remaining Rs 14,012.55 crore is under capital account," said Sarma while presenting the Budget.

He said the total expenditure from the consolidated fund of state in 2017-18 is estimated at Rs 85,922.69 crore.

In a first, the government has merged the Plan and non-Plan heads to end the discrimination in the budgeting of salaries of Muster Roll and Work Charge employees.

To drive the financial inclusion of tea garden workers, he said they would be paid Rs 5,000 each. "Initially Rs 2,500 will be paid to each tea garden worker who has opened bank accounts and subsequently another Rs 2,500 would be paid to them," he said.

The government proposed to make one-time payment of Rs 12,000 to each pregnant woman tea garden worker.

The minister proposed to exempt from the luxury tax, hotels and lodging houses, including the home stays, to boost the tourism industry.

The Budget also proposes to increase the production of Muga silk ten times by the year 2016 and allocated Rs. 100 crore for the purpose of developing nurseries and host plantations in 500 hectares of government land, 2,000 hectares in degraded forest areas and 8,000 hectares in private lands during 2017-18 fiscal.

--IANS

ah/ruwa/vt