Odisha Budget muted on Capex growth despite higher borrowing

It is set to take the state's total debt stock to Rs 64,991.83 crore by the close of this financial year

Odisha has failed to lift its capital expenditure target in its Budget for 2016-17 despite projecting a borrowing of Rs 15,740 crore, which is set to take the state's total debt stock to Rs 64,991.83 crore by the close of this financial year.

In its report - 'Value for Money: An Analysis of the State Budget 2016-17', the Odisha Budget Accountability Centre (OBAC), a wing of the Centre for Youth and Social Development (CYSD) said: "It is equally important to increase capital expenditure in order to foster higher economic growth for human development. Capital expenditure has been fixed at Rs 16,749.7 crore, which is almost the same as compared to Rs 16,595.7 crore in 2015-16 (revised estimates)."

Budget 2016-17 has been pegged at Rs 94,052.63 crore with an increase of 11 per cent over Budget 2015-16. The modest increase of state budget has not been substantive as compared to 2012-13 and 2013-14 or responsive to the available financial year autonomy in recent Centre-state financial relationship, the report said.

The budget is devoid of new tax proposals that could have augmented its revenue base.The state's own tax revenue is pegged at Rs 33,022.93 crore in this financial year, which has marginally increased to 7.5 per cent over last year. Besides, the state's own tax-GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product) ratio stands at 8.61 per cent and has been on a declining trend since 2013-14.

The report points to the inadequacies in state budget for addressing the myriad challenges faced by the social sector related to health, education, water and sanitation. Social sector investment has been marginally stepped up from 34.43 per cent in the year-ago financial year to 35.96 per cent in FY17.

Also, the share of health sector to the overall Budget is woefully inadequate.This finacial year, health has a share of 1.25 per cent but it needs to be scaled up to 2.5-3 per cent of the GSDP as per National Health Policy, the report adds.The allocated Budget of Rs 739 crore after deducting Rs 615 crore mandated for new medical colleges, appears inadequate to address the shortfall in rural health infrastructure.

The state government's announcement to create at least 200 days of employment in drought hit area looks hollow considering the slashed budget for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The allocation for MGNREGA has been estimated at Rs 1,659.89 crore in Budget 2016-17 against Rs 2,336.42 crore in previous financial year.