No new taxes in TN budget

Tamil Nadu's finance minister C Ponnaiyan presented the state budget for 2004-05 with no new taxes. The government in fact announced cut in stamp duty rates, land registration charges and sales tax resulting in a revenue loss of Rs 140 crore for the next fiscal.

Fiscal deficit for 2004-05 is estimated at Rs 590.47 crore, which is twice the fiscal deficit for the year 2003-04. The government has also abolished agriculture income tax.

Ponnaiyan, said gross state domestic product (GSDP) is expected to grow at 7.17 per cent in 2003-04 against 3.46 per cent growth achieved in 2002-03.

The slowdown in the previous fiscal, he said, was due to sharp decline in the output in the agriculture sector. The investment in the Comprehensive Social Safety Net is estimated at Rs 5329 crore for 2004-05 against Rs 4232 crore provided in 2003-04.

The economic recovery, the state has forecast for this fiscal, is expected to be primarily driven by the agriculture sector. The government however did not provide the break up of contribution made by the primary, secondary and service sector to the growth in GSDP.