The annual state plan size for 2010-11 is likely to be fixed at Rs 10,000 crore. This will be marginally higher than the annual plan outlay for the current year fixed at Rs 9500 crore.
The decision on the state plan size follows discussion of the state finance department officials with the Planning Commission.
The proposal to fix the state plan at Rs 10,000 crore has been sent to the chief minister Naveen Patnaik and the approval is awaited, said a senior official of the state planning and co-ordination department.
Sources said, the state finance department has given an indicative resources availability of Rs 10,000 crore from various sources during 2010-11 on the backdrop of the slowdown in economic activities in the state due to global meltdown. Based on the resource availability indicated by the finance department, the planning and co-ordination department had asked various administrative departments to prepare the sectoral allocations accordingly. After the approval of the state plan size by the chief minister, the department would prepare a plan document which will be submitted to the Planning Commission. However, the chief minister, Naveen Patnaik is yet to make up his mind on the plan size, sources added.
“Unless the chief minister wants some modification, the state plan would be fixed at Rs 10,000 crore”, said the official.
It may be noted, the state plan for 2009-10 focused on the development of agriculture and allied activities, creation of irrigation facilities, urban development, education, health, poverty alleviation and increasing employment opportunities in the state.
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Sources said, though the Thirteenth Finance Commission (TFC) headed by Dr Vijay Kelkar has submitted its recommendations to the President of India, the details of the transfer will be known towards end of February. It is perceived to be a major irritant in the way of arriving at the exact size of the state plan outlay for the next fiscal.
The submission of the state plan document to the Planning Commission generally gets delayed as the state government looks for availability of the resources and position of the Central flow before preparation of the plan document.
As a result, proper attention is never given to the contents of the document, which is why the plan proposal of Orissa isn’t appreciated by the planning commission.
On the other hand, other states submit their plan document much before Orissa without waiting for the availability of resources. Though the Planning Commission, in most of the cases, reduces the plan size after discussion with the concerned states, they are able to produce quality documents.
“The chief minister desires to put a figure before the Planning Commission which is acceptable and realistic. This is essentially the reason as to why we look for the availability of resources before preparing the plan document”, an official associated with the process said.