Where does the Budget rupee come from, where does it go?

In a good sign, the government will depend less on borrowing to finance budgetary proposals in 2011-12 than in the ongoing 2010-11 financial year.

Borrowings will comprise 27 paise out every rupee that the government plans to spend in 2011-12, compared to 29 paise in the current financial year, as per the proposals presented by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee in Parliament today.

As far as expenses are concerned, the central plan will account for 22 paise of every rupee spent, while interest payments will account for an outgo of 18 paise, the second highest expense.

The gross borrowings of the government in 2011-12 are estimated at Rs4.17 lakh crore, about Rs 40,000 crore lower than the current fiscal's borrowing plan, which was pegged at Rs4.47 lakh crore.

As the single largest source of revenue income, collections from corporate tax are estimated to increase to 24 paise in FY'12 from 23 paise in the current fiscal, indicating an improvement in tax revenue generation.

In addition, income tax will constitute 11 paise out of every rupee earned by the government in the 2011-12 financial year, as against 9 paise in the current fiscal. This indicates that overall, the direct tax contribution to every rupee earned by the government will be 35 paise.

An improvement is also seen in indirect tax collection, including service tax and other heads, which are expected to contribute 27 paise to every rupee earned in 2011-12, as against 25 paise in the current fiscal.

Central excise duty will account for 11 paise out of every rupee earned by the government in 2011-12, compared to 10 paise in 2010-11, while service tax and other taxes will constitute 6 paise of every rupee earned.

The contribution of non-tax revenue, however, is projected to come down to 8 paise of every rupee, as against 11 paise in the current fiscal.

However, the subsidy burden on the government would remain static at 9 paise and so would the outgo on defence activities, at 11 paise, in 2011-12.

What is more, non-plan expenditure is expected to account for 11 paise of every rupee spent by the government in 2011-12, down from from 13 paise in 2010-11, while the states' share of taxes and duties would amount to 17 paise of every rupee earned, compared to 16 paise in 2010-11.

Plan assistance to states and Union Territories has been retained at 7 paise in 2011-12.