Ibobi presents Rs 9728.61 crore Budget Estimates for 2015-16
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, June 26 2015 : Chief Minister O Ibobi who is also in charge of Finance presented Rs 9728.61 crore Budget Estimates for 2015-16 in the State Assembly on Friday.

In his budget speech, Ibobi stated that focus of his Government during the current year will be to accelerate the growth momentum further.

During the first day of the monsoon Session 2015 the Chief Minister said that the 14th Finance Commission is extremely important for the State since it gives a perspective of the revenue transfers receivable by the State from the Union Government over the next five years.

However, Ibobi stated that the Commission's recommendations and the Central Budget for 2015-16 are contrary to the State's expectations.

The Chief Minister said it appears that virtually the special category status of the North Eastern Region States is going to be discontinued.

He told the House that the special category status has always received a special treatment vis-�-vis development financing is concerned in view of the States' poor resource base, remote location and underdeveloped and backward economy.

"Doing away with this distinction will have a long term detrimental effect on the economy and finances of the NE States," Ibobi stated.

On the other hand, the Chief Minister claimed that his Government has been largely successful in managing the State's finances well and that key fiscal indicators are stable.

The State has been generating revenue surplus since 2004-05 and fiscal was contained within 3 percent of the GSDP as per provisional accounts for 2014-15, he said.

"I'm happy to state that our outstanding fiscal liabilities relative to GSDP have consistently declined from over 60 percent in 2010-11 to 45 percent in 2014-15.This is expected to further decline to 42 percent in 2015-16" .

Detailing on the Expenditure Estimates for the year 2015-16, the Chief Minister said he was proposing a total expenditure of Rs 9728.61 crore of the Consolidated Fund of the State.

Out of this, he informed, Rs 5576.30 crore is under non-plan, Rs 3954.88 crore under State plan and Rs 197.43 crore under Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) and Central Plan Schemes (CPS).

He further informed the House that an amount of Rs 892.51 crore is charged expenditure and the remaining amount of Rs 8836.10 crore is voted expenditure.

Total Revenue Expenditure is estimated at Rs 8038.27 crore while Capital Expenditure at Rs 1690.33 crore, which is 17 percent of the total expenditure.

Ibobi said it is clear from the sector-wise allocation that his Government continues to place greatest emphasis on rural development and agriculture and allied sectors, which together constitutes more that 20 percent of the rural plan outlay.

"This is a sector where enormous amount of Central funds can be leveraged for investment in the sector itself," Ibobi stated.

He said that to consolidate and further improve the performance in terms of key human development indicators such as health, education, etc, the Government has also accorded high priority to the social services sector.

The Chief Minister informed that his Government during the current year has allocated Rs 693.62 crore with general education and health constituting almost 18 percent of the total plan outlay.

For physical connectivity in the State Rs 156 crore has been provided towards roads and bridges including other transport infrastructure and that priority is given on completion of construction of Sanjenthong bridge, expansion of road from Keishampat to Malom, improvement of roads, both in hill and valley areas, he added.

He further told the House that his Government has allocated an amount of Rs 113.34 crore for the Autonomous District Councils in the State and for the welfare of Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Cates an allocation of Rs 112.62 crore has been provided.

Another Rs 33.72 crore has been earmarked for implementation of various welfare programs and schemes for the Minorities and Other Backward Classes, he informed.

Stating that tourism is one sector where enormous potential beholds for the State, Ibobi said that with general improvement in the law and order scenario in the State, public and private investments in the tourism and hospitality sectors have picked considerably in recent times.

He said the Government intends to build new tourist infrastructures at Marjing, Kaina, Khongjom, etc and that completion of these projects will not only add to the number of tourist spots in the State but also help in preserving the ancient cultural and traditional heritage of the State.

"I have made an allocation of Rs 41.17 crore for the tourism sector," he said.

The Chief Minister told the House that due importance is also accorded to all development and reducing regional imbalance between hill and valley and that a number of important projects have been taken up with fund under NLCPR and NEC.

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