Agri, powerloom concessions account for 60 pc of supp demands

As much as 60 per cent of Rs 4,581 crore supplementary statement of expenditure of the state budget for 2015-16 in Maharashtra is allocated for concessions in power tariff for agricultural pumps and the powerloom consumers.
On the first day of the budget session of legislature today, the Government tabled the supplementary demands in both the houses.
Of the total Rs 4,581 crore demands, Rs 2,775 crore (60 pc) account for the aforesaid two budget heads.
The demands also include Rs 16 crore for the financial assistance to the heirs of the farmers who committed suicide. Rs 18 crore have been earmarked for the establishment of the cyber-crime labs in the state.

Significantly, the Rs 2,775 crore expenditure on concessions in power tariff for agricultural pumps and powerloom consumers relates to the subsidy announced by the previous Congress-NCP government in 2014-15 before the Assembly elections.
In its bid to increase the rate of conviction, the Government has proposed an allocation of Rs 18 crore for the equipment at the cyber-crime laboratories to be set up across the state.

Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao, in his customary address at the start of the session, had said the Government had succeeded in improving the conviction rate from 36 per cent to 52 per cent in the past one year.

The Government has received flak from the opposition for its announcements like the waiver of Local Body Tax (LBT) without alternative plan to raise revenue.
The state is under a debt burden of Rs 3 lakh crore for which it has to pay Rs 27,000 crore in instalment of the principal amount and Rs 11,000 crore in interest annually.
The supplementary statement of expenditure will be debated in the coming days before it is passed.