Revenue growth not enough: AP Finance Minister

Andhra Pradesh finance minister Anam Ramanarayana Reddy on Wednesday said the revenue growth witnessed in the first six months of the current financial year would not be sufficient to meet the expenditure proposed in the Budget.

The government received Rs 43,063 crore in revenues including own taxes, and share in central taxes and grants, which form around 40 per cent of the total revenues of Rs 1.08 lakh crore estimated in the Budget. This shows a growth of 8.22 per cent over the corresponding six-month period last year. The government has prepared the Budget on the basis of an estimated 18 per cent growth in the overall revenues for the current year.

 

Of the total half-yearly receipts, state's own tax revenues registered 13.34 per cent growth to Rs 27,740 crore while the share in central taxes grew 14.66 per cent to Rs 8,994 crore, The government could not get about Rs 1,500 crore in central grants during the period as these funds are linked to the local body elections, which are overdue.

Despite the slow growth in revenues, it had spent over Rs 4,000 crore so far on things that have no budgetary sanctions, according to the minister.

However, within the budgetary allocations, the government has spent only 32 per cent of the total Plan outlay of Rs 54,300 crore in the six-month period. Similarly, capital expenditure, which involves creation of assets with funds essentially raised through borrowings, stood only 28 per cent of the total Rs 24,699 crore earmarked in the Budget.

Attributing lower spending on the Plan outlay to the inability of the departments concerned, the minister said the government would make efforts to improve the capital expenditure in the second half of the current year. He also said his department would focus on improving the revenues without going for fresh taxes besides initiating a performance review on various government departments.

Subsidy on 3 more cylinders
On a question that states should bear the subsidy of three more LPG cylinders, the minister said the civil supplies department was engaged in finalising the parameters to determine the eligibility criteria for the deserving households. “We have to first decide whether this subsidy be confined to the below poverty line households or adopt any other eligibility criteria,” Reddy said.

The Centre has capped subsided cylinder to 6 per year while suggesting state governments provide subsidy on three more.