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Maharashtra government outsmarts Gujarat and other key states in revenue receipt growth

Singh told reporters that Maharashtra's revenue receipts have fallen to 11.05 per cent in 2014-17 from 17.69 per cent in 2009-13.

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CM Devendra Fadnavis
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Fifteenth Finance Commission chairman NK Singh on Wednesday showered praise on Maharashtra government for higher revenue receipts compared Gujarat, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Singh after his meeting with chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said that state's parameters with regard to revenue and fiscal deficits and debt to gross state domestic product (GSDP) are well within the limit laid down by the 14th Finance Commission and Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act. He, however, stressed that the state government will need to step up its efforts to increase capital expenditure for the creation of assets.

Singh told reporters that Maharashtra's revenue receipts have fallen to 11.05 per cent in 2014-17 from 17.69 per cent in 2009-13. ''This is not Maharashtra specific. Its own revenue receipts in 2017-18 have in fact increased by 13.80 per cent and own tax revenue by 13.40 per cent. The all-India average with regard to revenue receipts fell to 10.6 per cent from 15.4 per cent. While in Gujarat it came down to 4.3 per cent from 26.3 per cent, in Karnataka saw a decline from 20.7 per cent to 9 per cent in the same period. 

However, in the case of Tamil Nadu the fall was quite sharp at 5.2 per cent from 24.9 per cent,'' he noted.

Singh's clarification came on a press release issued by the Press Information of Bureau (PIB) on its behalf last Saturday. According to the press release, the state's revenue receipts and own tax revenue have fallen and the percentage of capital expenditure to total expenditure has remained between 11 and 12 during 2013-17. ''There was no intention to cast aspersions or indictment on what Maharashtra government has done. The Finance Commission is not in the business of manufacturing figures. Those figures in the release came from Accountant General of Maharashtra. However, if one looks at the figures for the year 2016-17 and 2017-18, the picture is completely different. The state has achieved robust growth compared to other states despite slowing down,'' he opined.

On the Human Development Index (HDI), the PIB release stated that 125 of the 351 development blocks in the sate were identified as socially backward. ''However, the state has improved a lot in HDI also,'' he viewed.

Singh said Maharashtra's fiscal deficit was recorded at 1.7 per cent in 2016-17 and it is expected to be around 1.8 per cent in 2018-19. "Apart from this, state's debt to GSDP ratio is around 17 per cent. It has fiscal space left for some important capital expenditure which we encourage Maharashtra government to carry out," he noted. He informed that the state finance department is conservative and there is no tinge of adventurism in its working which has resulted in sound and prudent financial management.

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