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Karnataka
By S.K. Ramoo
It expects to raise Rs. 1,814.40 crores from small savings, Rs. 973.51 crores from market borrowings, Rs. 522 crores from negotiated loans, and Rs. 2,931.50 crores in loans from the Union Government. The revenue deficit works out to Rs. 2,135.32 crores, and the fiscal deficit to Rs. 6,032.79 crores. The total receipts are expected to be Rs. 26,907.08 crores, comprising revenue receipts of Rs. 19,845.17 crores and capital receipts of Rs. 7,061.91 crores. The total expenditure is estimated to be Rs. 26,839.43 crores, of which revenue expenditure will be Rs. 21,980.50 crores, and capital expenditure Rs. 4,858.93 crores. The Chief Minister, in his budget speech in the Legislative Assembly on Friday, announced that Karnataka would introduce value-added tax (VAT) from April this year. He assured the House that the transition from the sales-tax regime to the VAT regime would be "smooth and successful''. The State Annual Plan outlay has been enhanced to Rs. 9,780 crores in 2003-04. This envisages a growth of 16 per cent over the revised estimate for 2002-03. An estimate of Karnataka's Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) indicates a growth rate of 8.3 per cent at current prices. While industry and services are estimated to have grown at the rate of 8.9 per cent and 13.7 per cent, respectively, the agriculture sector recorded a negative growth rate of 3.6 per cent.
Stamps scrapped
As proposed earlier, the use of stamp paper and stamps, including judicial stamps, will be discontinued, facilitating the process of elimination of fake stamps papers and stamps. Amendments to the Karnataka Court Fee Suits Valuation Act, 1958, and the Karnataka Stamp Act, 1957 will be brought in. For giving impetus to the development of the backward north Karnataka, a `North Karnataka water supply board' is proposed to be set up. It will deal with urban and rural water supply projects in the Hyderabad Karnataka and Bombay Karnataka regions. The board will be located in Hubli.
Road maintenance fund
A dedicated maintenance fund with a corpus of Rs. 100 crores is proposed to be set up for the maintenance of roads. It will require additional resource mobilisation through a cess on fuel and motor vehicles. Another major initiative that has been announced by the Chief Minister is the establishment of the `Cauvery Neeravari Nigam' for the prompt repair, renovation, and refurbishment of irrigation projects in the Cauvery Basin. A Chief Minister's Fund for the repair of old temples, mosques, churches, and gurudwaras in rural areas is planned. Mr. Krishna has proposed the introduction of a new programme, `Rajiv Yuva Shakti', for harnessing the creative energies of the youth on the lines of the `Stree Shakti' programme.
Awards to be instituted
The Chief Minister has announced institution of awards for the preservation of the environment. Five awards with of Rs. 1 lakh each will be given to individuals and institutions every year. Mr. Krishna has proposed to include more professions for levying professional tax, and the self-employed are also to be included in it.
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