The Finance Minister announcing fund allocation for Vizhinjam industrial corridor, Kochi-Palakkad industrial corridor, Rs 30 crore to develop Kerala as a health hub, Make-in-Kerala, etc, in the budget was music to the ears and could act as a catalyst for growth. The budget also includes relief measures for various marginalized sections.
The proposal to prepare annual reports, especially performance reports by departments is a step in the right direction. While the budget allocated Rs 2,000 crore to check inflation, a hike in the fuel price by Rs 2 per litre could be counter-productive. Increasing the land fair value by 20% seems to be “unfair” when the land value itself has dropped, in most parts of the State in the last 5-7 years. This might lead to a further reduction in the value and transactions.
The budget did not touch unemployment and ballooning public debt, the two glaring issues faced by the state. Though FM acknowledged the need for addressing the youth migration, there was no concrete suggestion to address the unemployment issue or the public debt either.
An effective way to increase revenue for any progressive government is to stimulate and boost the income of businesses and people through more economic activities and business volume, including manufacturing, trade, and services by encouraging private investments, job creation, and spending. In any developed country, private entrepreneurs are the creator of jobs and sources of tax revenue for the government. The state’s job is to prepare the right playfield, providing a conducive ecosystem for entrepreneurs to thrive.
Significant investments could be generated by unlocking the tied-up investments in properties. Keralites, especially NRIs, with surplus fund have invested heavily in land and housing which is now illiquid and non-performing investments. Rationalised and simplified registration rules and a stamp duty rebate for a limited window period (say 5% stamp duty for six months) to monetise the assets, could stimulate property transactions, liquidity, investments, spending, and government revenue.
We need unconventional, out-of-box thinking to boost revenue, rather than relying on the traditional approach of increasing cess, stamp duty, fair value, etc.
Diversification of crops, high-yielding variety farming, encouraging agro-tourism, agribusinesses, and value addition can transform the lives of farmers and create more jobs. We have been hearing for years about amending the Plantation Act, to include fruit trees among the plantations, but there is no commitment in the time-bound implementation of this yet.