PUDUCHERRY: The Central government approved a higher budgetary outlay for Puducherry, and the quantum of central finances is higher compared to the previous year, L-G Tamilisai Soundararajan said she is set to address the budget session of Puducherry Legislative Assembly on August 26.
However, the question remains whether higher outlay will materialise through more schemes and infrastructure projects, as per the expectations of those who voted for the NDA government.
Though the exact quantum of the outlay has not been revealed, as the CM holding the finance portfolio will be presenting the budget in the Assembly, it is expected to be more than the previous year’s budgetary outlay of Rs 9,000 crore.
Already, Puducherry has been allocated a Central assistance of Rs 1,724.77 crore in this financial year (in the central Budget), which is just Rs 26.77 crore more than that of Rs 1,698 in 2020-21. This denotes a hike of just 1.58 per cent over last year. The annual inflation rate is about 6 per cent and the population growth rate of the territory is 2.2 per cent per annum and the rate of assistance (1.58) is less than both rates, said former LS member and economist M Ramadass.
Puducherry’s revenue base, driven by tourism has been affected by Covid, The share of Central assistance in Centrally sponsored scheme has been lowered to 60 percent from 90 percent, a few years ago. Hence, a higher budgetary outlay poses a tough challenge.