Chandigarh: Punjab’s outstanding debt is likely to touch an alarming Rs 3.74 lakh crore by the end of the new fiscal, amounting to more than 46 percent of the state’s total gross domestic product of over Rs 8 lakh crore.
Given the state’s three crore-plus population, Punjabis will likely have a debt of Rs 1.24 lakh each on an average. Last year, the debt burden stood at Rs 3.47 lakh crore.
Presenting a Rs 2.06 lakh crore annual budget for 2024-2025, finance minister Harpal Cheema Tuesday informed the assembly that the AAP government will be raising an estimated debt over Rs 41,000 crore this year, apart from banking on Rs 55,500 crore through ways and means advances (WMA) to meet its expenditure.
The WMA, a financial instrument of the Reserve Bank of India, is meant for central and state governments to tide over any mismatch in receipts and payments. However, it’s usually an emergency provision to be used sparingly.
Though Cheema said that the focus would continue on agriculture, health, and education and social welfare, he did not announce any provision to pay for the AAP’s major pre-election promise of giving Rs 1,000 per month to every woman in the state.
On Monday, the AAP government in Delhi had announced the implementation of a similar scheme in its annual budget.
The Punjab government will be spending Rs 2,900 crore less on capital expenditure, as it has come down from last year’s Rs 10,300 crore to Rs 7,400 crore.
The Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) for Punjab is estimated to grow to a little over Rs 8 lakh crore, Cheema said, clocking a growth rate of 9 percent from the current Rs 7.36 lakh crore.
The FM pegged the revenue deficit at per 2.89 cent and the fiscal deficit at per 3.80 cent. In 2022-23, the state registered a fiscal deficit of 5.04 percent and in last year’s budget estimates it was pegged at 4.98 per cent.
Of the proposed Rs 1.27 lakh crore revenue expenditure, the government will spend over Rs 35,000 crore on salaries and wages and nearly Rs 20,000 crore on paying pensions. Of the rest, almost Rs 24,000 crore will go in payment of interest.
While Rs 9,330 crore was allocated for power subsidy to agriculture, another Rs 7,780 crore was kept aside to offset the power bills of households which consume less than 300 units per month.
Cheema said the state is expected to increase its own tax revenue by over 14.6 percent as compared to last year. “Revenue from stamps and registration, GST, VAT and taxes on vehicles and electricity duty are our major sources of income, all of which have increased over the past two years,” he told the media after presenting the budget.
The state’s own tax revenue is expected to increase from Rs 42,243 crore to Rs 51,400 crore, he added.
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No major increase in budgetary allocations
The Punjab government will spend Rs 13,780 crore on agriculture, a 4 percent rise than last year’s Rs 13,236 crore last year.
Another Rs 16,987 crore, up from last year’s Rs 16,058 crore, is allocated for education, while Rs 5,264 crore, up from last year’s Rs 4,646 crore, will be spent on health, Cheema said.
The social welfare and justice department got Rs 9,388 crore, up from last year’s Rs 8,900 crore. Infrastructure was allotted Rs 24,283 crore, 10 percent more than last year’s Rs 22,161 crore.
Criticising the budget, Congress state president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said that there was nothing new for any section of society in the budget.
“The budget is absolutely hollow. There is nothing in it for the poor, industrialists, farmers. Old schemes have been repeated. They are claiming revenue has increased, debt has also increased,” he said.
Similarly, Congress leader Navjot Sidhu said in a video message that the Budget was a confession of the precarious economic situation of Punjab without giving any solutions for income generation.
#PunjabBudget raises concerns: borrowing projected at ₹38,331 Cr from 36,000 cr previous financial year , debt to reach ₹3.7 Lac cr by Mar 2025. Focus on debt servicing(₹36,766 cr) & high deficits (revenue: ₹23,198 cr, fiscal: ₹30,464 cr) up by 6,000 crore from 2023-24…..… pic.twitter.com/xmwmPAR1WH
— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) March 5, 2024
Terming the Punjab Budget “visionless”, “hollow” and “betrayal” with the Punjabis, BJP national spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill said that no steps were taken to revive the state economy that was put in reverse gear. “Today’s budget has shattered all the hopes of different sectors of the state.”
Shergill added that the government not earmarking funds of Rs 1,000 per month to eligible 1.3 crore women in the third consecutive budget, is one of the biggest betrayal with the women.
“I am sure that the women voters will teach this Aisho Aaram Party government a lesson in the upcoming Lok Sabha election by making sure that the AAP loses all 13 parliamentary seats in Punjab,” he added.
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal said the AAP had perpetrated a fraud on Punjabis by refusing to honour commitments made to different segments of society, apart from discriminating farmers, youth, and trade and industry.
Badal, too, said that there was no mention or allocation for the monthly allowance promised to women which was to start immediately upon formation of the AAP government two years ago. “This amounts to a backlog of Rs 24,000 per woman till now.” He further said the government had run away from allocating any money for implementing the Old Pension Scheme despite having notified it one year ago.
On his part, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann congratulated his finance minister for presenting “a historic budget”. “This budget has been presented keeping the health, education, trade and agriculture of Punjab as the main focus… I hope in the coming days. There will be further improvement in the economic conditions of Punjab,” he tweeted.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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