Odisha to raise plan outlay: Governor

Voicing concern over uncertainty on quantum of central funds for the states due to Central policy changes, Odisha Governor S C Jamir today said the state government intends to raise the plan outlay to Rs 45,000 crore in 2016-17.
"Ever since there has been a change in national policy, a number of centrally sponsored schemes are restructured, some stopped and a few new programmes taken up," Jamir said, addressing the state Assembly on the opening day of its budget session here.
Noting that such changes at the national level impacted the quantum of central assistance to the states, the Governor said it has added an element of uncertainty on the level of central funds flowing to the states, thereby making the budget-making process at the state level a "tricky" one.

"In the absence of clear indications on the quantum of funds to be received by the state, the budget so prepared will be an exercise in futility," he said, adding that state government for the first time took a conscious decision to defer placing the budget in the Assembly because of this.
Stating that the aim was to achieve a growth rate of 9 per cent during the 12th Plan period, Jamir said, "While my government has approved an outlay of Rs 44,150 crore for 2015-16, we intend to increase the plan outlay to Rs 45,000 crore during 2016-17."
With an emphasis on capital investment in economic and social sectors, the government has resorted to open borrowing after a gap of eight years.

The entire amount of Rs 3,000 crore thus raised has been fully utilised for capital investment, raising the share of capital investment to 3.6 per cent of GSDP, he said.

While economic slowdown had its shadow on government's abilities to augment resource mobilisation, the state's own tax revenues increased by 17.43 per cent and non-revenue receipts registered a growth of 10.40 per cent, making the tax-GSDP ratio to climb to 6.38 per cent.
Describing agriculture as the most critical sector for Odisha, the Governor said despite widespread moisture stress, the state surpassed foodgrain production in the last year to touch 120 lakh tonnes.

As irrigation tops the list of priorities, water resources department has been mandated to create an additional 10 lakh hectares of irrigation by 2019 by completing some of the ongoing projects and expanding the canal system through construction of at least 10,000 check dams and one lakh deep bore wells and many lift irrigation projects, he said.
On law and order, Jamir said the situation is peaceful amid communal harmony, while there is perceptible improvement in Left Wing Extremism (LWE).
The incidents of LWE violence and death of security
personnel and civilians this year have been less in number, Jamir said, adding surrender of ultras has increased in the state where development initiatives are making an impact.

Stating that there was a curb on organised crime, tender and transport mafia, the Governor said vairous pro-active measures like installation of CCTV in engineering offices have been taken.
As provision of safe drinking water and better sanitation facilities to urban dwellers is the focus area, the government has identified 92 spots in 24 urban local bodies (ULB) which face acute shortage of safe drinking water during summer, Jamir said.
Referring to education, he said the government would set up 314 Adarsh Vidyalays in all the blocks of the state to provide the opportunity of quality English medium education to rural students, while vocational education in schools would commence in one school of every district as a pilot project.

Stating that the rich mix and a variety of mineral resources available in Odisha attracted huge investments to mineral-based industrial sector, Jamir said the state attracted investments of more than Rs 70,000 crore during the last investors' meet at "Make in India" campaign held in Mumbai.
MSME sector contributes immensely to the value addition and generated huge employment locally, he said, adding, as of now more than 1,60,000 MSME units have been established in the state with an investment of more than Rs 7,900 crore which have been instrumental in providing employment opportunities to over 8.5 lakh youths.
The government has taken up an ambitious goal of creating 1,50,000 MSMEs with an employment potential of 4,00,000 more persons within next five years, he said.

Regarding energy sector, Jamir said construction of 500 more 33/11KV sub-stations under Odisha Distribution System Strengthening Project has been initiated with an investment of Rs 4,200 crore to strengthen the distribution infrastructure of the state. It is expected to commission all the 500 sub-stations by March 2018, he said.