UP presents deficit budget

The government in UP today presented a deficit budget amid a noisy boycott by the opposition parties.

The budget proposes to bring the direct-to-home (DTH) TV service under the purview of the entertainment tax. Finance Minister Lalji Verma, however, did not specify the tax rates.

The deficit is estimated at Rs 1,644.85 crore. The budget has earmarked Rs 12,801 crore for 212 new projects for state.

Amid opposition by the Mayawati government towards the centrally sponsored National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), the state government announced implementing the scheme in all the 70 districts in the next fiscal by sanctioning Rs 300 crore as the state's share. At present the scheme is implemented in 39 districts.

Verma, addressing a Press conference after the budget, said public-private participation (PPP) would be the main 'mantra' for the development of the state and ruled out any effort to privatise the existing public undertakings.

"There is no question of handing over public enterprises to the private sector and besides this, the reservation policy will be strictly implemented," he added.

The government also took a vote-on-account for April and May, 2008, amounting to Rs 21,113 crore.

The size of the Budget has been pegged at Rs 1,12,472.72 crore, which is 11 per cent more than the previous budget presented on June 29, 2007. The expected income has been pegged at Rs 1,10,827.87 crore. For the first time during the four regimes of Mayawati as chief minister, someone other than her had tabled the budget in the legislative assembly.

The drought-hit Bundelkhand region of the state, which has witnessed hectic political activity in the last one month, was the main focus of the state government. As much as Rs 300 crore has been provided for the waiver of loans and interest on small and marginal farmers.

The power sector has received Rs 10,330 crore, which is 12 per cent more than the last budgetary allocations. While Rs 2,341 crore has been allotted for laying and repairing transmission lines, Rs 3,906 crore has been kept for new projects in the power sector.

For 2008-09, the UP government has pegged the crop production target at 467,000 tonnes.