THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Finance Minister KN Balagopal will present the maiden budget of the second Pinarayi Vijayan government on Friday. As additional resource mobilisation has become a necessity for the government in the wake of the pandemic, speculation is rife that the minister may propose a hike in the fair value of land, among other measures.The minister will present the renewed budget at 9am. Vote on account for the next three months will also be presented.
Former finance minister T M Thomas Isaac had avoided tax hikes in the budget presented in January in the view of the assembly elections. A drastic fall in the GST revenue coupled with the drop in revenue from petroleum and liquor will force Balagopal to make announcements to shore up revenue. Additional revenue mobilisation is also imperative to fulfil the Rs 1,600-crore worth of additional expenditure proposed in the previous budget. Ambitious initiatives like strengthening the knowledge economy, which was announced in the last budget of Isaac need solid funding and the challenge before the minister is to devise innovative schemes to mobilise revenue.
The only solace for the state is that the revenue deficit grant from the Centre has been pegged at around Rs 19,000 crore in FY 2021-22. Of this, the state has already got Rs 4,972 crore as the allocations for the first two months of the fiscal.
Hike in social security pension likely in budget
The revenue deficit grant is released as per the recommendation of the Finance Commission to meet the revenue gap of states post devolution. It is learnt that the grant would be factored in the new budget. The maiden budget of the second Pinarayi government is also expected to announce an increase in the social security pension.
The pension amount is Rs 1,600 per month and the LDF had announced in the manifesto that the pension would be increased to Rs 2,500. The consistent increase and timely disbursal of the pension to 60 lakh beneficiaries is among the factors that contributed to the consecutive win of the LDF.
Handsome allocations to the health sector can also be expected though major infrastructure projects in the sector are funded by the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board. With online education becoming the norm, schemes to bridge the digital divide are also expected in the budget.