Uttarakhand to adopt strict fiscal discipline

Reversing the policy of the previous government, the new Uttarakhand government has decided to adhere to strict financial discipline, cutting expenditure.

Chief Minister BC Khanduri indicated this, promising to adopt austerity measures in view of the mounting financial burden of Rs 14,000 crore.

"We have to pay Rs 1,000 crore as interest per year on the various past borrowings," said Khanduri. Keeping its word, the government removed all the ministerial-level posts that had created an extra burden on non-plan expenditure.

The government has vowed to wipe out the entire estimated revenue loss of Rs 155.71 crore in the next financial year and bring down the fiscal deficit from 10.27 per cent of GDP to less than 4.54 per cent.

Apart from this, the government will take steps to bring down the heavy debt by curtailing non-plan expenditure and bring out a white paper on the state's economy.

On the power sector, Governor Sudarshan Agarwal, in his address to the budget session in the assembly, said the government would set up small hydro power projects under the run-of-the-river schemes.

A policy will be formulated for families displaced due to the construction of big dams.