GUWAHATI, July 19 ? Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today presented a Rs 3138.54-crore deficit Budget for the State for the current year in the State Assembly. In his Budget proposals, the Chief Minister proposed hikes in tax on petrol and diesel, gutka, IMFL, tinned milk food, ice-cream, royalty on forest produce and entry tax on crude oil imported for the refineries of the State. At the same time, he proposed reduction of agriculture income tax, tax on agriculture tools, mobile phones, entry tax on plants and machinery, polyester fibre, paraffin, etc. He also proposed to exempt flood-affected people from payment of land revenue for the current financial year.
According to the Budget estimates, the total receipts of the State in the current financial year will be Rs 25,545.64 crore and the expenditure in the year will be Rs 27,632.70. With an opening deficit of Rs 1051.48 crore, the year will end at a deficit of Rs 3138.54 crore. Of the expenditures, an amount of Rs 6213 crore will be required on payment of salaries, wages and pension, compared to Rs 5903 crore last year. The other major expenditure heads include ? Rs 6715 crore in Power Department, Rs 410 crore in irrigation and flood control, Rs 172 crore in crop husbandry, Rs 209 crore in industries and minerals, Rs 221 crore in social welfare, Rs 682 crore in health and family welfare, Rs 602 crore in roads, bridges and transport, Rs 911 in police, Rs 3050 crore in repayment of ways and means advance, Rs 3743 crore in debt servicing, Rs 3197 crore in education, sports and culture and Rs 5368 crore in others.
Among the tax proposals, the Chief Minister proposed reduction of the rate of agriculture income tax from 45 percent to 35 percent in onsonance with the Central Income Tax slabs. To provide a level playing field to the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre with the other centres in the country, he proposed to reduce the rate of sales tax on tea sold through the centre from two percent to one percent. To encourage export of tea and to increase commercial activities through the Inland Container Depot at Amingaon, he proposed a deduction of 50 paise per kilogram of tea exported through the depot. The rate of sales tax on tea machinery has been proposed to be reduced to four per cent from eight percent and efforts have also been made to provide benefit to the small tea growers.
In his Budget proposals, the Chief Minister proposed to levy entry tax at the rate of four percent on crude oil imported for the oil refineries of he State and the CST on inter-state sale of petrol and diesel of the refineries are to be reduced to two percent from four. The sales tax on petrol has been proposed to be raised from 20 to 25 percent and that of diesel from 12 to 15 percent. Justifying the move, Gogoi said that the present rates of sales tax on petrol and diesel in Assam are lower than most other states and attempt has been made to remove the disparity. The sales tax on polyester staple fibre and DMT will be reduced to one percent from four to give benefits to the yarn, fabric and plastic manufacturing units, while, the tax on paraffin wax and candle has been reduced to four percent.
With a view to creating an environment friendly climate in the State, the Chief Minister proposed to exempt industries based in Assam from ayment of entry tax on plant and machinery, components and specific raw materials, which are not available in the State. He also proposed exemption of entry tax on plant and machinery relating to establishment of health institutions, educational institutions etc. He also proposed reduction of sales tax on tractors, power tillers, parts and accessories, MB plough, harrow cultivator etc from eight to four percent to encourage development of the agriculture sector, while, seeds, seedlings and saplings of medicinal and aromatic plants have also been exempted from sales tax. He further proposed entry tax on bamboo, films including X Ray films, livestocks, photographic paper, elevators, aluminium sheets, PVC pipes and tubes etc to provide a level playing field to the local industries.
Gogoi proposed increase of tax on gutka from ten to 20 percent and the tax on IMFL is proposed to be hiked from 20 to 22 percent. He proposed to hike tax on tinned, bottled or packed milk food from eight to 12 percent. Similarly, the tax on ice food including ice cream is proposed to be hiked from 8 to 12 percent. He also proposed to reduce the sales tax on mobile phones from 12 to four percent. He said that biscuit is currently exempted from sale tax but is taxable at the rate of eight percent under the Entry Tax Act. He proposed to remove the entry tax and introduce a sale tax of four percent on biscuits. He also proposed increase of the royalty on forest produce. The Chief Minister proposed to introduce composite check gates at Srirampur, Boxirhat and Digarkhal to bring transparency in the functioning of the check gates and one of the most modern computer systems has been put in place in tax administration.
The estimated inflow into the consolidated fund of the state in the current financial year include Rs 2658 crore in state tax, Rs 3319 crore in non tax revenue, Rs 2583 crore as share of Central taxes, Rs 2584 crore as state plan grants, Rs 501 crore as non plan grant from the Centre, Rs 1288 crore as grants from the Centre, Rs 1894 crore as loans from the Centre and Rs 7592 crore as other capital receipts. Gogoi also hoped that the economy of the state would achieve a growth rate of 7.2 percent this year as compared to 6.2 in the last financial year.
In his Budget speech, the Chief Minister have an account of the devastation caused by floods and said that the total loss in floods has been estimated to the tune of Rs 1200 crore. He said that the figure is likely to go up as detailed reports from the affected areas are awaited. He said that due to their magnitude, it is beyond the capacity of the State Government to deal with the problem of floods and erosion and reiterated his demand for recognising flood and erosion as national problems. He referred to the flood and landslide in Guwahati city and revealed that the State Government is negotiating with the Asian Development Bank and the Government of India for a Rs 436 crore financial assistance for the development of the city.
On the law and order front, Gogoi acknowledge the supreme sacrifice of civil servant Dipankar Das for preserving the territorial integrity of the State when armed Nagas encroached into the territory of the State. He welcomed the cessation of hostilities between the Government of India and the NSCN (I-M), but at the same time, asserted that the State Government would never allow any violation of the ground rules of the cease-fire and violent incidents within the territory of Assam. Gogoi reiterated his appeal to the insurgent groups to shun violence and come forward for a negotiated settlement of their problems. He also called upon the Government of India to persuade the neighbouring countries to deny safe haven, camping and training facilities and other logistic support to the insurgent groups. He also proposed an amount of Rs five crore in the Budget for the current financial year for implementation of a scheme for the rehabilitation of the widows and orphans of the victims of insurgency.
The Chief Minister said that peace has returned to the Bodoland Territorial Autonomous District (BTAD) areas after the creation of the same and requested the leadership of the BTAD to work wholeheartedly for the development of the area. He said that an amount of Rs 54.65 crore has been included in this year?s Budget for the BTAD, which may go up after the finalisation of the State Plan. Gogoi announced that the Assam Rural Health Regulatory Authority Bill would be introduced in the current session of the Assembly for establishing a medical institute in orhat for imparting education and training for a course of Diploma in Medicine in Rural Health Care as the MBBS doctors are not too keen in serving in the rural areas. He also announced the steps initiated by the Government for the development of the three medical college hospitals and the MMC hospital. In his Budget Speech, the Chief Minister also gave an account of the performance of different Government Departments and outlined the plans for the current financial year.