Puducherry budget to be presented on August 22
PUDUCHERRY: The Puducherry budget for 2022-2023 will be presented on August 22 by Chief Minister N Rangasamy, who holds the finance portfolio, as the budget session is set to resume on the same day at 9.30 am.
While the session began on August 10, it was adjourned after the customary address by the Lt Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan. After the Centre approved of a draft budget of Rs 10,697 crores, the government is gearing up to present a full-fledged budget in the Legislative Assembly The budget has to be passed in Assembly before August 31. It may be noted a Vote on Accounts for Rs 3613 crore had been passed to meet the government's expenditure for five months, April to August.
Though the business advisory committee is yet to decide on the duration of the session, with the compulsion to pass the budget before August 31, the session may be confined to only seven days. This means that 'demand for grants' will be passed with minimal to no discussion.
Most importantly, the government will have just seven months to implement the budget proposals, though the size of the outlay is Rs 282 crore more than previous year’s budget outlay of Rs 10, 414 crore. While the Union earmarked central assistance of ₹1729.79 crore for Puducherry in its budget, similar to previous year, the finances are going to be tight with no word yet on GST compensation.
The cash-strapped UT government will have to meet a large chunk of its expenditure through negotiated loans and market borrowings. Though the Centre assured additional finance, it will be provided only at the Revised Estimate stage of the budget (conveyed normally in January) and time for utilisation would be limited to just two and half months or so.
However, the UT's silver lining is buoyancy in revenue, owing to an increase in tourism. The GST collections grew to Rs 764.46 crore from April to July this year as compared to Rs 524.92 crore during the same period last year. Besides, Excise Revenue also has seen growth crossing the 1,000 crore-mark last year with the department netting a revenue of ₹1,063 crore. On the flip side, Puducherry has a huge burden of repayment of loan and interest, which is eating into the UT's finances.