Jharkhand government tables over Rs 1 lakh crore budget for FY23

New Delhi:  Aiming at fuelling growth, the JMM-led Jharkhand government Thursday unveiled a Rs 1.01-lakh crore budget for the 2022-23 fiscal, with higher spending on sectors like health and infrastructure.

The budget also proposed a massive 59 per cent jump in capital expenditure to Rs 24,827.70 crore.

"... Capital expenditure is essential for the development of the state and in view of this, there is a proposal to increase the capital expenditure by 59 per cent," Finance Minister Rameshwar Oraon said in the assembly while presenting the budget.

Revenue expenditure is pegged at Rs 76,273.30 crore.

A fiscal deficit of Rs 11,286.47 crore, is estimated to be 2.81 per cent of the gross state domestic product (GSDP) of the next fiscal, he said.

The budget spending shall be met through the state's Rs 24,850-crore tax revenue, Rs 13,762.84-crore non-tax revenue, Rs 17,405.74-crore central assistance and Rs 27,006.58-crore share in central taxes, besides Rs 18,000-crore public debt, the minister said.

A 27-per cent hike in allocation for the health sector has been proposed, and a 20-per cent increase for drinking water and sanitation.

Oraon said Jharkhand's growth rate was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and a decline of 4.7 per cent was registered for 2020-21 as against a slide of 7.3 per cent in GSDP. He added that a growth rate of 8.8 percent is expected in the current fiscal.

The budget also focuses on sectors like water, electricity, roads and universal pension.

Oraon said on the agriculture front, Rs 836 crore has been transferred to the accounts over 2 lakh farmers under the Jharkhand Agriculture Loan Waiver Scheme. Also Read: Huawei accused of tax evasion by Indian government: Report

The budget also proposed creation of 12.5 crore man-days in the next fiscal under MNREGA, while it said under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Rural), the construction work of 10.44 lakh houses has been completed so far. Also Read: Don’t share Aadhaar, PAN details without valid reasons, CBIC cautions public of GST fraud