Odisha budget focuses on irrigation, agri, rural dev & energy

Creating adequate fiscal space for borrowing, the Odisha government today presented a Rs 94,052.65-crore budget for 2016-17 with emphasis on irrigation, agriculture, rural development and energy.
There has been an increase by about 11.32 per cent in the size of allocation made for 2016-17 in comparison to the previous budget, finance minister Pradip Kumar Amat said while presenting the budget in two parts in the Assembly.
Besides a general budget, Amat also presented a separate agriculture budget of Rs 13,181.89 crore, showing a 20.89 per cent increase as against the previous fiscal.
"The outlay of the agriculture budget comprising the departments of water resources, agriculture, cooperation, fisheries and animal resources, is about 14.02 per cent of the total outlay proposed in the Budget for 2016-17," Amat said.

While the highest amount in the agriculture budget of Rs 7,241.66 crore has been allocated to the water resources department with thrust on irrigation, the agriculture and farmer empowerment department got Rs 3,438.91 crore.
The cooperation department and the fisheries and animal resources department would get Rs 1,821.73 crore and Rs 679.60 crore respectively with a focus on the farm and rural sector ahead of Panchayat polls due early next year.

Amat in his budget speech said the budget has pegged fiscal deficit at Rs 14,532.39 crore, or 3.79 per cent, of its gross state domestic product (GSDP), which was higher than the mandated threshold of 3.5 per cent.

Stating that there was no new tax proposals, Amat said the total budget amount included an annual Plan outlay of Rs 50,000 crore.
"The total revenue expenditure is estimated at Rs 7,443.38 crore during 2016-17. Thus, after achieving revenue balance, a surplus of Rs 3,683.34 crore has been projected in the budget estimates for 2016-17, which is 0.96 per cent of the GSDP," finance minister said.
"The fiscal deficit is projected at Rs 14.532.39 crore which is 3.79 per cent of the GSDP. However, if the impact of UDAY (Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojana) scheme that comes for Rs 1,196.18 crore is taken out, the deficit comes down to Rs 13,336.21 crore, which is 3.48 per cent of the GSDP against the proposed FRBM limit of 3.5 per cent," Amat added.

The state government has pegged its gross borrowing at Rs 15,014 crore, which includes the net market borrowing of Rs 7,324 crore. The state's overall debt stock for 2016-17 has been estimated at Rs 64,991.83 crore, which is 16.96 per cent of the GSDP (Rs 3.83 lakh crore) and within the limit of 25 per cent prescribed by Odisha Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act, 2005, additional chief secretary R Balakrishnan, told reporters after the budget.
While proposing an outlay of Rs 13,396.35 crore for
school and mass education department and higher education department, Amat said the state government has decided to launch a new scheme 'Odisha Adarsha Vidyalaya' even after the central government discontinued assistance for establishment of model schools.

Highlighting the contribution of former chief minister Biju Patnaik towards women empowerment, Amat proposed a new scheme 'Biju Kanya Ratna' to be launched in the districts of Dhenkanal, Angul and Ganjam where female sex ratio was comparatively low. He made a provision of Rs 2 crore for the new scheme.
The budget also proposed expenditure of Rs 70 crore for construction of steel Bailey bridges in the remote and tribal-dominated areas to be implemented under Biju Setu Yojana.
Amat also proposed a sum of Rs 333.33 crore under Smart City Mission for development of Bhubaneswar as a smart city. A provision of Rs 140.15 crore has also been made under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) to provide improved basic service in nine select urban local bodies of the state.

With three-tier panchayat polls barely nine months away, Amat announced revival of 'Bhagabat Tungi' (village huts where people assemble to discuss on religion). Amat made provision of Rs 3 crore for revival of such units at a village level.
The budget evoked mixed response, with the ruling BJD and government hailing it as growth oriented and the Opposition parties dubbing it as "uninspiring".
Hailing the budget as a "people's budget", Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said it addressed the government's priorities like rural housing, rural connectivity, rural electrification, rural livelihood and food security.
He said it was a farmer-centric budget with focus on agriculture and allied sectors and irrigation received a major push in the proposals.

The budget is also investor friendly with focus on skill development and employment, Patnaik said.
However, state BJP president Basanta Panda said "there was nothing new in the budget, which looked like a presentation of statistics and account figures".
Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra said no concrete provision was made for farmers and the poor.