Haryana Budget :Matter of pride

INVC NEWS

Chandigarh ,

Living up to the credentials of a welfare state wedded to the welfare of women and children, Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Backward Classes (BCs) and ex-servicemen, the Finance Minister, Capt Abhimanyu, has raised the outlay on all three counts in his Budget for 2019-20 presented to the State Assembly, today.

Unfolding the steeped-in-social-welfare Budget proposals—his fifth in a row–Capt Abhimanyu said the Women and Child Welfare Department had been allocated Rs.1,504.98 crore in BE 2019-20, which is 14.3 per cent more than the outlay of Rs.1317.10 crore in RE 2018-19.

‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ programme is the flagship programme being implemented by the state government. This programme has been conferred four awards in January, 2019 by the Government of India for overall support, guidance, monitoring and achieving the targets of the programme.

With the efforts of the present government, and successful implementation of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao programme, sex ratio (at birth) has improved significantly, reaching the level of 914 in 2018, as compared to only 830 in 2011.

He said the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) had been implemented in all districts of the state. Panchkula and Yamunanagar were awarded as 2nd and 3rd best performing districts respectively in North Zone in September 2018. During 2018-19, all districts of Haryana have been covered under the Poshan Abhiyaan and One Stop Centre for Women “Sakhi” schemes.

“I propose an outlay of Rs.1,504.98 crore for Women and Child Development in BE 2019-20, which is 14.3 per cent more than the outlay of Rs.1317.10 crore in RE 2018-19”, Capt Abhimanyu added.

Welfare of SC, BC and Social Justice & Empowerment

Capt Abhimanyu said the state government had taken a number of initiatives for the welfare and upliftment of labourers, poor and those belonging to SCs, BCs, women and the old aged, to achieve the vision of “Ekatma manav darshan” and “Antyodaya” propounded by Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya a great philosopher and politician of modern India.

The Haryana State Commission for Scheduled Castes Act, 2018 has been enacted and notified in November 2018. The commission will investigate and inquire into specific complaints with respect to the deprivation of rights and safeguards of the Scheduled Castes in the State.

Under the scheme of “Mukhya Mantri Viwah Shagun Yojna” an amount of Rs. 51,000 is provided to the persons belonging to Scheduled Castes, Denotified Tribes and Tapriwas Jatis living below poverty line, and Rs. 11,000 to all sections of BPL categories other than SCs on the occasion of marriage of their daughters.

The Finance Minister said, subsidy of Rs 50,000 was being provided to persons of Scheduled Castes, Vimukt, Ghumantu and Tapriwas Jatis living under below poverty line for the repair of houses under Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Awas Navinikaran Yojana.

In order to enable SCs and BCs, widows and destitute women for self employment, Tailoring Training Scheme has been implemented.

To encourage meritorious SC students, scholarships ranging from Rs. 8,000 to Rs. 12,000 per annum are provided under Dr. Ambedkar Medhavi Chhatra Yojana in class 11th, 1st year of Graduation and 1st year of Post-Graduation courses. Scholarship is also provided to BC students of Matric class on the basis of their percentage score.

Free coaching is provided to aspirants from SCs and BCs to prepare for various competitive and entrance examinations under the “Financial assistance for higher competitive entrance examination to Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes candidates Scheme”.

The pension of elderly, disabled and widows was enhanced by Rs 200 to Rs 2,000 per month with effect from 1st November, 2018. Further, financial assistance to destitute children has been enhanced from Rs 900 to Rs 1100 and for non-school-going disabled children from Rs 1,200 to Rs 1,400 per month.

“I propose an outlay of Rs 7199.32 crore for Welfare of SCs, BCs and Social Justice and Empowerment sector in BE 2019-20 as compared to Rs. 6348.62 crore at RE 2018-19 with an increase of 13.4 per cent”, he added.

Sainik & Ardh Sainik Welfare Department

Capt Abhimanyu said it is a matter of pride that every tenth soldier in the country belongs to Haryana. As many as 63 jobs were provided to the next of kin of battle causalities during 2018-19.

The government is committed to ensuring timely payment of all grants to Defence personnel, para-military forces, ex-serviceman and war widows. In the martyr family support 273 jobs have been provided to next of kin of martyrs in the last four years.

“I also thank Govt. of India for providing OROP (One Rank One Pension) and depositing Rs. 35000 crores in Veteran’s account against OROP. I also thank Hon’ble Prime Minster for making the National War Memorial at India Gate in New Delhi which was a long pending demand of ESM. This is the first War Memorial after Independence”, Capt Abhimanyu said.

An outlay of Rs.211.30 crore is provided for Sainik and Ardh Sainik Welfare Department in BE 2019-20, which is 64.0 per cent more than Rs.128.81crore in BE 2018-19, he added.

No fresh taxes have been proposed and the existing rates of taxes have been left untouched in the Rs 1,32,165.99-crore Haryana Budget for fiscal 2019-20, presented by the Finance Minister, Capt Abhimanyu, to the state Assembly, today.

Unfolding the proposals contained in the Budget—his fifth in a row–Capt Abhimanyu said in consonance with the theme of “Haryana Ek Haryanvi Ek”, these aimed at putting the state in higher growth trajectory and fulfilling the aspirations of the people in the last year of the tenure of the present government.

Lacing his Budget with new initiatives, he outlined two schemes to provide financial and social security cover to families of farmers of farmers with land holding of up to 5 acres, and those of workers in unorganized sectors with family income of less than Rs. 15,000 per month. This is besides a deal with four public sector banks to provide government employees social security benefits.

A number of other such initiatives as introduction of Haryana Accountability of Public Finance Act and output – outcome framework to monitor utilisation of scare financial resources in a fruitful manner for overall development of the state, have also been taken.

With the economy firing on all cylinders, the Budget seeks to combine fiscal prudence with sagacious utilization of resources and idle funds to optimize their use and effect. Riding the crest of better realization of both tax and non-tax receipts, Capt Abhimanyu has not allowed himself to cross the fiscal barriers. While fiscal deficit and debt-to-GSDP ratio have been kept within limits, the pace of reversal of the trend of rising financial deficit has been hastened.

Quoting Kautilya who said, “A tax collector should collect taxes from a tax payer just like a bee collects honey from a flower in an expert manner without disturbing its petals”, Capt Abhimanyu said, “In this spirit, like in the past, this year also, I do not intend to propose any change in the present rates of taxes under the Haryana Value Added Tax (HVAT) Act, 2003 or introduce any new tax in these Budget estimates for fiscal 2019-20”.

Though no new tax has been proposed revenue receipt is expected to increase to Rs 82,219.41 crore in 2019-20 through better realisation of tax and non-tax receipts, over RE 2018-19 receipt of Rs 7,6828.11 crore. This includes state’s own tax receipt of Rs 51,105 crore and non-tax revenue of Rs 10,024.95 crore.

The Budget represents an increase of 14.73 per cent over BE 2018-19 outlay of Rs 1,15198.29 crore and 9.79 per cent over RE 2018-19 of Rs 1,20,375.40 crore. The Budget outlay comprises 28.7 per cent as capital expenditure of Rs 37,924.09 crore and 71.3 per cent as revenue expenditure of Rs 94,241.90 crore.

The proposed major sources of tax revenue are GST – Rs 22,750 crore, VAT- Rs 10,900 crore, Excise Duty – Rs 7,000 crore and Stamp & Registration – Rs 6,500 crore. Non-tax receipts include among others EDC – Rs 3,500 crore, Transport – Rs 2,000 crore and Mines – Rs 800 crore.

The Finance Minister said, in addition, the government proposed to borrow up to 3 per cent of GSDP, which amounts to Rs 22,413.79 crore in 2019-20. Further, grant-in-aid from Government of India amounting to Rs 9,872.82 crore will be another major source of funding in 2019-20.

Detailing broad contours of the initiatives in the shape of social security schemes, the Finance Minister said two new schemes would provide financial and social security cover to families of farmers of farmers with land holding of up to 5 acres, and those of workers with income of Rs 15,000 per month.

Besides, four banks have been selected for providing benefits such as natural death cover of Rs. 2 lakh, medical facility of Rs. 50,000, and accidental insurance to state government employees, up to Rs 30 lakh, he added.

Aligning budgetary allocations with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) like last year, Capt Abhimanyu has allocated Rs 46,562.37 crore out of total budget of Rs 1.32 lakh crore to the schemes pertaining to 15 SDGs being implemented in the state.

He has allocated 26.12 per cent of the total budget to Economic Services (i.e. agriculture & allied, irrigation and rural electrification, subsidy -10.31%, power – 4.63%; transport, civil aviation, road and bridges – 4.12%; rural development and panchayats – 3.83 %; and others 3.23%).

As much as 30.69% is allocated to social services (comprising education – 11.61%, social welfare – 7.05%, health and family welfare – 3.80%, public health engineering – 2.71% and others – 5.52%). General Services get 15.28 per cent share (administrative services – 4.49%, pension – 8.07% and others 2.72%) and 27.91 per cent has been allocated for repayment of debt (principal –15.33% and interest – 12.58%).

“The objective of inclusive growth is incomplete and meaningless unless it percolates to the downtrodden sections of the society and women”, said the Finance Minister. Towards this end, an outlay of Rs 8,293.90 crore, being 20.04 per cent of the welfare & development schemes outlay of Rs 41,386.38 crore, has been earmarked for the welfare of Scheduled Castes under SCSP component in 2019-20 and 24.07per cent amounting to Rs 9961.96 crore for welfare of women.

Quoting Kautilya again, who said, (It means that “Government is happy when people are happy. People’s welfare is Government’s welfare. What is dear to people is dear to Government”), Capt Abhimanyu went on to present the achievements of the present government in the last more than four years, its vision and an action plan to achieve the growth agenda to fulfill the aspirations of the people in the last year of its present tenure.

“Inclusive growth has been a key agenda for our Hon’ble Prime Minister, and on behalf of the Government of Haryana, I welcome the new schemes introduced by the Union Government in the Interim Budget 2019-20, which include, among others, Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), an income-support scheme for farmers who are the backbone of our economy, and the PM Shram-Yogi Maandhan Yojana offering income security in the form of pension to workers in the unorganized sector, who constitute a significantly large part of our economy”, Capt Abhimanyu said.

Also the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, RERA Act 2016 and the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act in 2018 introduced by the Government have improved accountability and transparency. The historic decision to provide 10 per cent reservation for the Economically Weaker Sections among General Category aspirants is another milestone towards social and economic justice.

“I also applaud Hon’ble Finance Minister of India for reducing GST rates on items of common use as that has led to higher disposable incomes, laying the foundations for buoyant growth. I further compliment the Union Finance Minister for enhancement of income tax limit to Rs 5 lakh, giving significant relief to middle class tax payers. An individual tax payer having a gross income up to Rs 6.50 lakh may not be required to pay any income tax if they make investments in provident funds, specified savings, insurance etc”, he said.

Dedicating his budget to the people of Haryana in consonance with the theme ‘Haryana Ek Haryanvi Ek’, Capt Abhimanyu expressed his gratitude to each and every member of the House for giving patient hearing to his Budget speech. “I am personally grateful to the Hon’ble CM who gave me opportunity to present the State Budget for five years in a row,” he said.

The Finance Minister requested all members of the House to discuss, debate and adopt the budget proposals, which are dedicated to the people of the state to take the state to new heights to emerge as one of the leading states of the Union.

“With these words, I commend the Budget for the year 2019-20 to the House for its consideration and approval”, he concluded.

Firing on all cylinders, the economy of Haryana is growing at a fast clip. While the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), Gross State Value Added (GSVA) in all the three tiers of the economy, and per capita income, are on the uptick, both fiscal deficit and debt-to-GSDP ratio have been kept within the confines of respective limits.

Presenting his Budget for 2019-20–his fifth in a row—to the Haryana Assembly today, the Finance Minister, Capt Abhimanyu, said during 2018-19, as per Advance Estimates, the GSDP of Haryana was expected to achieve a growth of 8.2 per cent, against 7.2 per cent recorded at the national level.

According to advance estimates, GSDP of Haryana for 2018-19 at current prices has been estimated at Rs.7.07 lakh crore, contributing 3.75 per cent to the all- India GDP of Rs188.41 lakh crore. The GSDP of Haryana at constant prices has been estimated as Rs.5.26 lakh crore, which is 3.77 per cent of the estimated All-India GDP of Rs.139.52 lakh crore in 2018-19.

Significantly, the composition of GSVA signifies a structural transformation towards the services sector, a sure mark of a developing and mature economy. Also, Haryana occupies the bench of advanced states in the country with the highest per capita income.

Capt Abhimanyu said, the growth of GSVA in the primary sector had been estimated at 5.5 per cent, 8.6 per cent in the secondary sector and 8.2 per cent in the tertiary sector at constant prices in 2018-19. The corresponding figures at national level for the same time period have been estimated at 3.3 per cent for primary sector, 8.6 per cent for secondary sector and 7.3 per cent in tertiary sector.

As a result of the initiatives taken by the state government to diversify source of income for persons employed in the primary sector, the highest growth rate is estimated to be in livestock at 11.1 per cent, followed by pisciculture and aquaculture at 7.4 per cent.

In the secondary sector, electricity, gas, water supply and other utility services are likely to register a growth of 17.5 per cent and manufacturing 9.2 per cent in 2018-19. In the tertiary sector, trade and repair services are expected to achieve growth rate of 9.6 per cent, financial services 9.2 per cent and public administration 10.5 per cent.

Since 2014-15, share of the tertiary sector has increased by 1.62 per cent to an estimated 50.2 per cent of GSVA and the share of secondary sector has increased by 1.27 per cent to an estimated 32 per cent of GSVA at constant prices in 2018-19. The share of primary sector is estimated at 17.8 per cent in 2018-19.

The Finance Minister said since 2014-15, the per capita income of the state is estimated to have increased by over 34 per cent at constant prices. The per capita income of the state at constant prices in 2017-18 was estimated at Rs.1,57,649 which is likely to further increase to Rs.1,68,209 in 2018-19 as compared to the All-India figure of Rs.91,921.The per capita income of the state at current prices in 2014-15 was Rs 1,47,382. In 2017-18, it was estimated at Rs 2,03,340 which is likely to further increase to Rs 2,26,644 in 2018-19, as compared to the All-India figure of Rs 1,25,397 in 2018-19, making Haryana one of the leading states with highest per capita income among the major states in the country.

“Hon’ble Speaker Sir, I am happy to inform the august House that, the Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited (CRISIL), in its report “State’s of growth 2.0” published in January 2019, has mentioned that Haryana was one of the only two states in India that registered both high overall GSDP growth and high GVA growth in employment intensive sectors, higher than national average, indicative of our progress towards our goal of creating more job opportunities per investment in the state”, the Finance Minister added.

Fiscal Parameters

Referring to fiscal parameters, Capt Abhimanyu said, under the leadership of the Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Lal, Haryana had emerged as one of the best financially administered states in the country. This is clearly manifested by the fact that all the fiscal parameters, except revenue deficit, are well within the limits prescribed by the Fourteenth Finance Commission and the FRBM Act.

Moreover, the government has been able to reverse the increasing trend of revenue deficit. This is clear from the fact that in 2016-17, the revenue deficit, which was 2.92 per cent of GSDP, is estimated at 1.53 per cent of GSDP for 2019-20.

Effective revenue deficit, a better fiscal indicator, excludes grants given for the creation of capital assets from revenue deficit. The effective revenue deficit was 2.81 per cent in 2016-17 which had declined to 1.03 per cent of GSDP in 2017-18. In BE 2019-20, it is projected to further decrease to 0.73 per cent of GSDP. This proves that more emphasis has been laid on the creation of capital assets in the economy by the present government. The share of capital expenditure in total budget has increased from 20 per cent in 2016-17 to 29 per cent in 2019-20, demonstrating that borrowings are leveraged to increase capital expenditure.

“We have taken several measures to reduce revenue deficit. We have introduced the Performance linked Outlay mechanism to incentivize departments to increase capital expenditure, reduce non-productive expenditure and curb parking of funds. We are also introducing a Bill “The Haryana Accountability of Public Finance Bill” to improve accountability and audit mechanism. With these initiatives, the government hopes to bring down Revenue Deficit to zero in next five years”, he added.

Fiscal Deficit Within Limit

Capt Abhimanyu said that by following prudent fiscal management policies, fiscal deficit had been kept within the limit of 3 per cent prescribed by the Fourteenth Finance Commission though the demand for funds for development activities had increased manifold over the years.

In 2016-17, fiscal deficit of the state was 2.91 per cent of GSDP. In 2017-18, it was 2.71 per cent of GSDP (without UDAY). However with UDAY, it has marginally increased to 3.05 per cent. In 2018-19 BE, fiscal deficit was estimated at 2.82 per cent of GSDP with UDAY and 2.51 per cent without UDAY.

In 2018-19 RE, it is estimated at 2.90 per cent of GSDP with UDAY and 2.60 per cent of GSDP without UDAY. For the ensuing year 2019-20, it is likely to be 2.86 per cent of GSDP with UDAY and 2.59 per cent of GSDP without UDAY.

The debt-to-GSDP ratio too remained within the stipulated limit of 25 per cent. In 2017-18, debt-to-GSDP ratio without UDAY was 18.17 per cent, in 2018-19 RE, it is estimated at 18.52 per cent, while for 2019-20 BE, it is projected at 19.55 per cent.

The debt-to-GSDP ratio with UDAY was 22.32 per cent in 2017-18 BE and 22.19 per cent in 2018-19 RE. For 2019-20 BE, it is projected at 22.86 per cent with UDAY and 19.55 per cent without UDAY.

Capital Expenditure Up

Capt Abhimanyu said, as capital expenditure had a direct impact on economic development, the state government was committed to enhancing the proportion of capital expenditure in total expenditure.

“I am happy to inform the august House that, as compared to capital expenditure of Rs. 30,011.76 crore in 2018-19 BE, we are able to increase it to Rs. 35,040.59 crore in 2018-19 RE. It is further likely to increase to Rs. 37,924.09 crore in 2019-20 BE. As proportion of total expenditure, capital expenditure has increased from 22.50 percent in 2017-18 to 29.11 per cent in 2018-19 RE. As per 2019-20 BE, it is estimated at 28.69 percent of total budget”, he added.

Besides budgetary allocation for capital expenditure, our Public Sector Undertakings are also making substantial capital investment in the creation and strengthening of capital infrastructure in the state. It is estimated that capital investment to the tune of Rs. 4,185.00 crore is likely to be made by PSUs in 2019-20. Hence, cumulative total capital investment is estimated to be Rs. 42,109.09 crore in BE 2019-20.

Public Sector Enterprise Performance

Referring to the working of Public Sector Enterprises, Capt Abhimanyu said 22 PSEs were registered under the Companies Act, 1956, out of which 18 PSEs earned net profit in 2017-18, as against 13 PSEs in 2013-14. The profit earned by these 18 PSEs was Rs.1116.16 crore in 2017-18.

The number of loss-making PSEs reduced to four in 2017-18 from nine in 2013-14. In monetary terms, the overall losses of state PSEs have been reduced to Rs.19.89 crore in 2017-18.

Similarly, 19 PSEs registered under the Cooperative Societies Act, 1984, have also shown signs of improvement. The number of profit making PSEs has increased from five in 2013-14, to seven in 2017-18 and their profit margins have increased from Rs.72.91 crore to Rs.132.20 crore, during this period, he added.

Firing on all cylinders, the economy of Haryana is growing at a fast clip. While the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), Gross State Value Added (GSVA) in all the three tiers of the economy, and per capita income, are on the uptick, both fiscal deficit and debt-to-GSDP ratio have been kept within the confines of respective limits.

Presenting his Budget for 2019-20–his fifth in a row—to the Haryana Assembly today, the Finance Minister, Capt Abhimanyu, said during 2018-19, as per Advance Estimates, the GSDP of Haryana was expected to achieve a growth of 8.2 per cent, against 7.2 per cent recorded at the national level.

According to advance estimates, GSDP of Haryana for 2018-19 at current prices has been estimated at Rs.7.07 lakh crore, contributing 3.75 per cent to the all- India GDP of Rs188.41 lakh crore. The GSDP of Haryana at constant prices has been estimated as Rs.5.26 lakh crore, which is 3.77 per cent of the estimated All-India GDP of Rs.139.52 lakh crore in 2018-19.

Significantly, the composition of GSVA signifies a structural transformation towards the services sector, a sure mark of a developing and mature economy. Also, Haryana occupies the bench of advanced states in the country with the highest per capita income.

Capt Abhimanyu said, the growth of GSVA in the primary sector had been estimated at 5.5 per cent, 8.6 per cent in the secondary sector and 8.2 per cent in the tertiary sector at constant prices in 2018-19. The corresponding figures at national level for the same time period have been estimated at 3.3 per cent for primary sector, 8.6 per cent for secondary sector and 7.3 per cent in tertiary sector.

As a result of the initiatives taken by the state government to diversify source of income for persons employed in the primary sector, the highest growth rate is estimated to be in livestock at 11.1 per cent, followed by pisciculture and aquaculture at 7.4 per cent.

In the secondary sector, electricity, gas, water supply and other utility services are likely to register a growth of 17.5 per cent and manufacturing 9.2 per cent in 2018-19. In the tertiary sector, trade and repair services are expected to achieve growth rate of 9.6 per cent, financial services 9.2 per cent and public administration 10.5 per cent.

Since 2014-15, share of the tertiary sector has increased by 1.62 per cent to an estimated 50.2 per cent of GSVA and the share of secondary sector has increased by 1.27 per cent to an estimated 32 per cent of GSVA at constant prices in 2018-19. The share of primary sector is estimated at 17.8 per cent in 2018-19.

The Finance Minister said since 2014-15, the per capita income of the state is estimated to have increased by over 34 per cent at constant prices. The per capita income of the state at constant prices in 2017-18 was estimated at Rs.1,57,649 which is likely to further increase to Rs.1,68,209 in 2018-19 as compared to the All-India figure of Rs.91,921.The per capita income of the state at current prices in 2014-15 was Rs 1,47,382. In 2017-18, it was estimated at Rs 2,03,340 which is likely to further increase to Rs 2,26,644 in 2018-19, as compared to the All-India figure of Rs 1,25,397 in 2018-19, making Haryana one of the leading states with highest per capita income among the major states in the country.

“Hon’ble Speaker Sir, I am happy to inform the august House that, the Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited (CRISIL), in its report “State’s of growth 2.0” published in January 2019, has mentioned that Haryana was one of the only two states in India that registered both high overall GSDP growth and high GVA growth in employment intensive sectors, higher than national average, indicative of our progress towards our goal of creating more job opportunities per investment in the state”, the Finance Minister added.

Fiscal Parameters

Referring to fiscal parameters, Capt Abhimanyu said, under the leadership of the Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Lal, Haryana had emerged as one of the best financially administered states in the country. This is clearly manifested by the fact that all the fiscal parameters, except revenue deficit, are well within the limits prescribed by the Fourteenth Finance Commission and the FRBM Act.

Moreover, the government has been able to reverse the increasing trend of revenue deficit. This is clear from the fact that in 2016-17, the revenue deficit, which was 2.92 per cent of GSDP, is estimated at 1.53 per cent of GSDP for 2019-20.

Effective revenue deficit, a better fiscal indicator, excludes grants given for the creation of capital assets from revenue deficit. The effective revenue deficit was 2.81 per cent in 2016-17 which had declined to 1.03 per cent of GSDP in 2017-18. In BE 2019-20, it is projected to further decrease to 0.73 per cent of GSDP. This proves that more emphasis has been laid on the creation of capital assets in the economy by the present government. The share of capital expenditure in total budget has increased from 20 per cent in 2016-17 to 29 per cent in 2019-20, demonstrating that borrowings are leveraged to increase capital expenditure.

“We have taken several measures to reduce revenue deficit. We have introduced the Performance linked Outlay mechanism to incentivize departments to increase capital expenditure, reduce non-productive expenditure and curb parking of funds. We are also introducing a Bill “The Haryana Accountability of Public Finance Bill” to improve accountability and audit mechanism. With these initiatives, the government hopes to bring down Revenue Deficit to zero in next five years”, he added.

Fiscal Deficit Within Limit

Capt Abhimanyu said that by following prudent fiscal management policies, fiscal deficit had been kept within the limit of 3 per cent prescribed by the Fourteenth Finance Commission though the demand for funds for development activities had increased manifold over the years.

In 2016-17, fiscal deficit of the state was 2.91 per cent of GSDP. In 2017-18, it was 2.71 per cent of GSDP (without UDAY). However with UDAY, it has marginally increased to 3.05 per cent. In 2018-19 BE, fiscal deficit was estimated at 2.82 per cent of GSDP with UDAY and 2.51 per cent without UDAY.

In 2018-19 RE, it is estimated at 2.90 per cent of GSDP with UDAY and 2.60 per cent of GSDP without UDAY. For the ensuing year 2019-20, it is likely to be 2.86 per cent of GSDP with UDAY and 2.59 per cent of GSDP without UDAY.

The debt-to-GSDP ratio too remained within the stipulated limit of 25 per cent. In 2017-18, debt-to-GSDP ratio without UDAY was 18.17 per cent, in 2018-19 RE, it is estimated at 18.52 per cent, while for 2019-20 BE, it is projected at 19.55 per cent.

The debt-to-GSDP ratio with UDAY was 22.32 per cent in 2017-18 BE and 22.19 per cent in 2018-19 RE. For 2019-20 BE, it is projected at 22.86 per cent with UDAY and 19.55 per cent without UDAY.

Capital Expenditure Up

Capt Abhimanyu said, as capital expenditure had a direct impact on economic development, the state government was committed to enhancing the proportion of capital expenditure in total expenditure.

“I am happy to inform the august House that, as compared to capital expenditure of Rs. 30,011.76 crore in 2018-19 BE, we are able to increase it to Rs. 35,040.59 crore in 2018-19 RE. It is further likely to increase to Rs. 37,924.09 crore in 2019-20 BE. As proportion of total expenditure, capital expenditure has increased from 22.50 percent in 2017-18 to 29.11 per cent in 2018-19 RE. As per 2019-20 BE, it is estimated at 28.69 percent of total budget”, he added.

Besides budgetary allocation for capital expenditure, our Public Sector Undertakings are also making substantial capital investment in the creation and strengthening of capital infrastructure in the state. It is estimated that capital investment to the tune of Rs. 4,185.00 crore is likely to be made by PSUs in 2019-20. Hence, cumulative total capital investment is estimated to be Rs. 42,109.09 crore in BE 2019-20.

Public Sector Enterprise Performance

Referring to the working of Public Sector Enterprises, Capt Abhimanyu said 22 PSEs were registered under the Companies Act, 1956, out of which 18 PSEs earned net profit in 2017-18, as against 13 PSEs in 2013-14. The profit earned by these 18 PSEs was Rs.1116.16 crore in 2017-18.

The number of loss-making PSEs reduced to four in 2017-18 from nine in 2013-14. In monetary terms, the overall losses of state PSEs have been reduced to Rs.19.89 crore in 2017-18.

Similarly, 19 PSEs registered under the Cooperative Societies Act, 1984, have also shown signs of improvement. The number of profit making PSEs has increased from five in 2013-14, to seven in 2017-18 and their profit margins have increased from Rs.72.91 crore to Rs.132.20 crore, during this period, he added.

Sticking to the past practice of stitching his Budgets with the thread of new initiatives, the Finance Minister, Capt Abhimanyu, has, this time too, rolled out some more to provide financial and social security cover to families of farmers, workers and state government employees, inject greater accountability in the management of finances, and ensure utilization of idle funds.

Presenting his fifth consecutive Budget for 2019-20 to the state Assembly today, he said these initiatives included two schemes to provide financial and social security cover to families of farmers of farmers with land holding of up to 5 acres, and those of workers in unorganized sectors with family income of less than Rs. 15,000 per month.

Besides, four banks have been selected for providing benefits such as natural death cover of Rs. 2 lakh, medical facility of Rs. 50,000, and accidental insurance to state government employees, up to Rs 30 lakh.

Capt Abhimanyu said, “This year we are celebrating 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. I quote his famous observation “I give you a Talisman – recall the face of the poorest and weakest man you have seen, and ask yourself if this step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him”. Hon’ble Speaker Sir, in this spirit, and as pronounced by the Hon’ble CM in his reply to the Governor’s Address, I take this honour to announce two new schemes one for the farmers and another for the workers in unorganized sectors.

Getting guided by Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay who had observed, “The measurement of economic plans and economic growth cannot be done with those who have risen above on the economic ladder but of those who are at the bottom”, Capt Abhimanyu proposed to introduce two schemes.

An outlay of Rs.1,500 crore has been provided in this budget for these two new schemes. However, details are being worked out, he added.

Corporate Salary package

The Haryana Government, for the first time ever, taken a unique initiative by negotiating with banks to provide a plethora of benefits to government employees under corporate salary package.

Under this scheme, four banks namely SBI, HDFC, PNB and HARCO Bank have been selected for providing benefits such as – Natural death cover of Rs. 2 lakh, medical facility of Rs. 50,000 and accidental insurance to employees, up to Rs 30 lakh.

Referring to management of state finances, Capt Abhimanyu said under the stewardship of the Chief Minister, Haryana had attained pole position in the country by being a leader of the change in the management of state finances and budgets. In the last four years, we have been able to transform the financial and fiscal management of the state.

Financial Accountability

In an endeavor to increase accountability of government departments and all such entities receiving public funds, the state government proposes to introduce the ‘Haryana Accountability of Public Finances Bill, 2019’.

The Bill when enacted will provide for an effective and efficient system to facilitate accountability of public finances through appropriate accounting and auditing systems in all the departments and entities receiving public money.

In addition, the government also intends to constitute “Haryana Audit & Accounts Service”, to facilitate better management and accountability of public finance and effective implementation of the proposed legislation.

Output-Outcome Framework

The Haryana Government is committed to working with NITI Ayog to achieve the sustainable development goals. Towards this end, it prepared Vision 2030 document in June 2017 and also aligned budgetary allocations with these goals last year.

“Taking a step forward this year, I propose to introduce the “Output-Outcome Framework” for the Budget 2019-20. This will serve as the foundation step by providing integrated framework for aligning the public spending towards achieving the SDGs in a phased manner. This framework will further facilitate deeper understanding about the government’s welfare and development activities among all stakeholders and enable departments to keep track of their performance during the year”, he said.

Signing of MOU

For the first time, in the spirit of cooperative federalism, a process is being initiated to sign an MoU between the Finance Departments of Governments of Haryana and Gujarat, to facilitate and strengthen collaboration between the two state governments in the areas of fiscal management, financial service and IT support.

Performance Linked Outlay

The state government recognizes the need to leverage financial resources for creation of productive assets, while maintaining fiscal prudence, in order to sustain the growth trajectory of the state. Therefore, to ensure efficient and prudent utilization of resources, a new scheme “Performance Linked Outlay” has been introduced by the state government.

Implementation of the PLO scheme will improve the financial discipline of the state by encouraging fiscal prudence. It will incentivize departments to target the resources for productive utilization. Further, it would be instrumental in deterring the parking of funds and rushed withdrawals towards the fag end of the year.

It would also facilitate the Finance Department to re-allocate the budget after assessing the absorptive and spending capacity of the departments, Capt. Abhimanyu added.

Parking of funds

In another landmark initiative, to make government institutions accountable for public money and to ensure proper utilization of funds for development activities, a one-time exercise was conducted to ascertain the amount of funds lying idle with the concerned organizations.

As a result of this exercise, the government has been able to unearth unutilized money running into crore of rupees. The recently Haryana Financial Services Ltd. will consolidate and deploy these funds in an efficient manner, Capt. Abhimanyu added.




LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here