Orissa To Target 9% Growth In Ninth Plan

The Orissa government is aiming for a nine per cent growth rate during the ninth plan against the national target of seven per cent.

This was disclosed by Chief Minister J B Patnaik in the assembly yesterday.

Replying to the debate on the governors address to the budget session of the House, Patnaik said the two per cent higher growth rate is necessary if Orissa is to maintain the existing level of disparity with the advanced states, if not to bridge the gap.

He expressed the need for a mammoth Rs 14,500 crore plan allocation in the current plan period to achieve this goal and said this seems possible with the steady increase in plan allocation and expenditure over the last couple of years.

 

To substantiate his point, he said the comparative utilisation of the plan allocation has in increased to 66.8 per cent by the end of January this year compared with 41.28 per cent and 56.99 per cent achieved by the end of same deadline in 1994-95 and 1995-96 respectively.

He expressed the hope that the plan expenditure would rise to an all-time high of Rs 1,900 crore this year compared with Rs 1,451 crore last year. The state has, in fact, already spent Rs 1,471 crore by January 31 this year, he added.

Pointing out that the resources constraint was a major obstacle to the development of the state, Patnaik said the state budget for fiscal 1996-97, to be tabled in the house on Saturday, would come out with various measures to strengthen the resources position.

He, however, pointed out that the new industrial and agricultural policy of the state government, coupled with the all-out drive to attract investment, has already started paying dividents as many industrial houses, both within the country and abroad, have focused their attention on the state.