Kerala finance minister KM Mani on Friday announced the state government would reduce stamp duty on real estate deals by 2 percentage points.
Presenting his 11th Budget in the Assembly today, he said the reduction in stamp duty on real estate deals would be beneficial to the general public. Stamp duty for village now is 5 per cent from 7 per cent earlier, 6 per cent (8 per cent) in municipalities and 7 per cent (9 per cent) in corporation areas.
Mani, who termed this as a Reform Budget, said the focus would be on overall development of the state. The GSDP growth recorded in 2011-12 was 9.51 per cent as against 7.57 per cent in the previous fiscal.
It also seeks to mop up additional revenue of Rs 1,138.33 crore, mostly from luxury items. Cigarettes and liquor, among other things, will attract higher taxes.
Tax on cigarettes has been increased from 15 to 20 per cent, anticipating a revenue of Rs 120 crore, and that on foreign liquor from 100 to 105 per cent expecting an extra revenue of Rs 250 crore.
VAT rate on a number of products like vehicles and white goods, which fall under 13.5 per cent, has been raised to 14.5 per cent, seeking to net Rs 650 crore.
He said the measure would bring the tax rate in Kerala on a par with other southern states and that the common people would not be affected as basic items such as rice had been exempted.
On auction trading of cardamom, this has been reduced to 2 per cent from 4 and that of water beds to 5 per cent from 13 per cent.
Compared with the current fiscal, tax collection is expected to increase 20 per cent. The Budget estimates an additional tax income of Rs 1,138.33 crore and a revenue loss to the tune of Rs 67.78 crore through various tax benefits and a net revenue of Rs 1,070.55 crore.
According to the revised estimates for FY12-13, the fiscal deficit is 3.12 per cent of the GSDP. The Budget estimates a lower fiscal deficit of 2.82 per cent for the next financial year.
Addressing the media, Mani said the revised figures for 2012-13 indicate 0.94 per cent revenue deficit, while the 2013-14 Budget estimates this at 0.54 per cent. He said the latest Budget estimates were well below the rates stipulated by the Finance Commission.
During the financial year 2013-14, the revenue of the state is estimated at Rs 58,057.88 crore, of which Rs 8,143.79 crore is the share of central taxes, Rs 6,221.42 crore is grant from the Centre, Rs 38,771.1 crore is receipts from state taxes and duties and Rs 4,921.57 crore is state's own non-tax revenue. Total revenue expenditure is estimated at Rs 60,327.85 crore.
Writes off interest on farm loans
Announcing a set of flagship schemes for farmers, Mani set apart Rs 50 crore for writing off the interest on small farmers and announced an interest-free loan scheme for farmers holding below one hectare of land through co-operatives. It earmarked Rs 30 crore for this interest-free loan programme.
He also came out with a risk insurance on farm loans guaranteeing that in the event of the farmer's death the loan need not be repaid.
Other schemes
Low-priced hotels - Thripthi -- would be opened in 63 taluks across the state.
The government has earmarked Rs 788.93 crore for infrastructure development projects like Kochi Metro, Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram mono rail projects, Vizhinjam Sea port and Kannur air port.
Also, it raised the pension under all social welfare schemes. Those who works a minimum of 100 days in a year under the National Employment Guarantee Scheme will get pension after 60 years of age. These workers will also get a gift worth Rs 400 during Onam.
A sum of Rs 10 crore has been earmarked for opening three fish malls at Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Kozhikode. A film archives will be set up in Munnar with an estimated investment of Rs 2.5 crore.
The Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation will set up a separate overseas investment promotion wing to promote state-based entrepreneurs in West Asia, Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa. Integrated business hubs will be formed in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Kozhikode, Kannur and Idukki.
The road transport corporation will get Rs 100 crore in addition to the Budget allotment of Rs 186 crore to tide over the diesel price hike.
The Budget also raised tax on plastic disposable cups, plates, leaf, etc to 20 per cent. Tax on footwear, which have a price tag up to Rs 500, will be reduced from 13.5 per cent to 5 per cent. Products like home gloves and finger caps will now attract a reduced commercial tax of 5 per cent.
Allocations
Allocation to agriculture has been increased 16 per cent to Rs 1,494.74 crore while rural development increased to Rs 810 crore. Local self governments get an raise of 23.9 per cent to Rs 4,000 crore. For urban development, this has been hiked to Rs 1,130.49 crore, up 16.7 per cent over 2012-13.
The co-operative sector gets Rs 75 crore, up 21 per cent. Industries department has been allocated Rs 579.36 crore for industrial parks, investor promotion, etc while Rs 855 crore is for has been earmarked for public works department.
