Capital expenditure in Odisha on wane: CAG

Capital expenditure in Odisha as proportion of total expenditure declined from 14 per cent (Rs 2,843 crore) in 2007-08 to 11 per cent (Rs 4,496 crore) in 2011-12, says a latest report of the Comptroller & auditor General of India (CAG) on state finances.

This was below the level of capital expenditure incurred by other general category states at 13 per cent in 2011-12.

Capital expenditure (CE) in Odisha showed an increase of only five per cent during 2011-12 over the previous year (Rs 4,285 crore) mainly on account of misclassification of grants-in-aid of Rs 763 crore under capital segment instead of revenue.

 

It was also due to increase in expenditure on agriculture & allied services (Rs 69 crore), power projects (Rs 69 crore) and irrigation and flood control (Rs 145 crore) set off by decrease in expenditure mainly on education, sports, art and culture (Rs 88 crore), home (Rs 62 crore), and welfare of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes (Rs 105 crore).

The CE during 2011-12 was 1.99 per cent of the gross state domestic product (GSDP) as against government’s projection of 2.5 per cent in budget estimate for the fiscal. Actual CE stood at Rs 4,496 crore compared to the budgeted Rs 5,662 crore.

Expenditure on salaries increased from Rs 4,582 crore in 2007-08 to Rs 8,868 crore in 2011-12, accounting for nearly 22 per cent of revenue receipts and 36 per cent of non-plan revenue expenditure. The salary expenditure was Rs 1,966 crore more than the 13th Finance Commission’s assessment of Rs 6,902 crore for 2011-12.

Expenditure on subsidies rose from Rs 1,310 crore in 2010-11 to Rs 1,744 crore in 2011-12 which included food subsidy of Rs 979 crore due to continuation of Rs 2 per kg rice for the people living below poverty line.

The 13th Finance Commission has made a normative assessment of per capita subsidy of Rs 20 each year towards food subsidy. Accordingly, food subsidy should have been Rs 83.80 crore, taking into account the state’s population (41.9 million), the CAG report pointed out.