Mizoram presents deficit budget for 2015-16

Mizoram Finance Minister Lalsawta today presented a deficit budget for the current fiscal amounting to Rs 7,576.56 crore.
The Mizoram budget was estimated to close with a deficit of Rs 293.44 crore at the year ending 2015-16, the finance minister told the Assembly after presenting the budget.
Lalsawta said that the state government had been taking stringent austerity measures and sought ways to mobilise additional resources by augmenting tax and non-tax revenues.
He said that his inability to present the regular budget earlier and resorting to seek vote-on-accounts two times was due to the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission which introduced a paradigm shift in the pattern of the transfer of funds to the state.

Setting up of NITI Aayog in place of the Planning Commission and the discontinuation of the main sources of plan fund to the states consisting of Normal Central Assistance (NCA), Special Central Assistance (SCA) and Special Plan Assistance (SPA) caused confusion in the budget preparations, he said.
He regretted that categorisation of Mizoram and some states as Special Category States was discontinued.

"We need to put in more efforts to increase the quantum of our own tax and non-tax collection and to this end our government is committed to finding all possible sources of receipts," he said, adding, "during the last financial year 2014-15, the total receipt on account of state excise is Rs 4.91 crore."

"With the introduction of the Mizoram Liquor (Control & Prohibition) Act, 2014, I anticipate enhanced excise inflows and because of this I now propose an estimated excise receipt of Rs 35.68 crore during 2015-16," he said.
He also said that the enhancement of Value Added Tax (VAT) on cigarettes and other tobacco products from 20 per cent to 30 per cent was expected to increase the revenue by Rs 1.50 crore.