West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra today claimed that he was convinced that the state is moving ahead despite economic crisis across the world.
Mitra told the Assembly during discussion on the Budget that plan expenditure which represented asset creation had increased 24.17 per cent and 64.35 per cent in 2011-12 and 2012-13, respectively.
This was in contrast to the erstwhile Left regime when it was down by 8.34 and 26 per cent 2009-10 and 2010-11, respectively.
He said the Backward Regions Grant Fund utilisation was 100 per cent.
Mitra said at a time when the overall national Index of Industrial Production (IIP) had contracted by 0.2 per cent the state had shown a rise of 6.8 per cent.
Leader of the Opposition Surya Kanta Mishra said that in just three years the debt under new government had swelled by Rs 55,000 crore from Rs 1.9 lakh crore during the Left Front government.
Mitra, however, contested it saying debt was taken within norms of Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management norms and debt in ratio to state GDP had declined to 36.9 in 2012-13.
Moreover, revenue deficit and fiscal deficit had also come down significantly from the levels of the previous government.
Thus, the opposition's contention of increasing debt under the new government was misleading, he said.
Mitra also informed the House that Centre had deducted Rs 49,083 crore on account of interest and Rs 19,982 crore as principal repayment of loans.
The Assembly passed the supplementary demands.
The demand for sending the Adamus University Bill to a select committee by the opposition was defeated in a vote.
