The Kerala government has raised the retirement age of state government employees from 55 to 56 years. Amid strong protests from young turks of the Opposition benches, finance minister KM Mani announced this in his 10th Budget speech on Monday.
Stating the reason for this, he said the average life expectancy of the state had increased to 72 years and the retirement age of central government employees was 60.
The Budget also enhanced the rate structure of VAT for two slabs by one percentage point each. So, 4 per cent rate has now been increased to 5 and 12.5 per cent to 13.5 across all the commodities falling under these two slabs.
The finance minister has exempted pulses, cereals and edible oils from this hike and reduced the tax from 4 to one per cent.
The Budget earmarked Rs 224 crore for the proposed Vizhinjam International seaport project and Rs 150 crore for the Kochi Metro Rail project. It also earmarked Rs 225 crore for additional development initiatives of Vallarpadam International Container terminal at Kochi.
Two new universities
Besides, it proposes to set up two new universities — University for Ayurveda at Kottakal in Malappuram district and a technical university at Thiruvananthapuram.
Three coconut-based bio parks will also be set up in Malabar, Kochi and Travancore regions for the manufacture and promotion of coconut-based value-added products. For this, Rs 15 crore has been allocated towards initial expenditure. Two bio-rice parks will come up in Palakkad and Kuttanad in Alappuzha district, major paddy cultivating centres of Kerala.
A number of social welfare initiatives, including increase in pension schemes, was also announced. Monthly pension for widows has been enhanced to Rs 575 and that of handicapped persons to Rs 700.
Road tax of all vehicles has also been increased, providing an additional revenue of Rs 115 crore to the state’s exchequer. It reduced the tax on Ayurvedic products to 5 per cent.
High speed rail corridor
The FM announced construction of a high-speed rail corridor from Kasargod to Thiruvananthapuram. Work on the first phase, from Kochi–Thiruvananthapuram, will commence soon. The total investment is estimated at Rs 40,000 crore and Rs 50 crore has been earmarked for the initial expenses. Mono-rail projects for Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode and air strips for all the districts where there are no airports also found mention in the Budget. Small airports will be set up in Idukki and Wayanad districts.
The Emerging Kerala Summit will be conducted biennially and NRK Summit will be organised every year. Green House agriculture practice will be introduced in all the villages with the support of co-operative institutions. A sum of Rs 50 crore has been set apart for the construction of a new dam at Mullaperiyar to replace the 117-year-old dam.
The Budget proposed a total revenue of Rs 48,120 crore for the next financial year with a total expenditure of Rs 51,605 crore, leaving a revenue deficit of Rs 3,485 crore. It proposes to collect additional revenues of Rs 1,512 crore, incurring an additional expenditure of Rs 1,118 crore.
