The annual Plan size of Odisha for 2012-13 has been pegged at Rs 17,250 crore, 13.48 per cent higher than Rs 15,200 crore in the previous fiscal.
The Planning Commission finalized the Plan size on Friday, urging the state to focus on infrastructure upgradation, enhancing spending level and taking up more projects on the public private partnership (PPP) mode besides maintaining the high growth tempo.
The Plan size was fixed following talks between Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia in New Delhi. This was preceded by elaborate official level parleys held on Thursday.
“The Planning Commission lauded the efforts of the state government in areas like skills development and health & nutrition. Besides, the commission asked the state to take up more infrastructure projects in sectors like roads and water resources as this will help catalyze growth. Odisha has been recording economic growth higher than the national average and we were urged to sustain the momentum,” said a top state official who attended the meeting.
Annual Plan allocations of Odisha have been substantially enhanced from Rs 5,520 crore in 2007-08 to Rs 17,200 crore in 2012-13. The Plan expenditure during the first four years of the 11th Plan period has been Rs 31,501.90 crore. The state’s overall expenditure is expected to overshoot the projected 11th Plan size of Rs 32,225 crore.
For 2011-12, government departments have clocked Plan and Non-Plan sending of 62.8 per cent till the end of January. The state government had projected total Plan size of Rs 1 lakh crore for the 12th Plan (2012-17).
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During discussions with the Planning Commission, the state government reiterated its demand for financial assistance for the power sector under Restructured Accelerated Power Development & Reform Programme (R-APDRP). Odisha was excluded from the APDRP scheme of Government of India as electricity distribution business has been privatized in the state after the state pioneered power sector reforms.
Odisha also urged the Planning Commission to consider its demand for imposition of Mineral Resource Rent Tax on super normal profits accrued to miners.