The State Budget of Karnataka presented by Chief Minister and Finance Minister Siddaramaiah has claimed that the state’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) saw a growth of 7 per cent for 2014-15, as against 5 per cent in 2013-14. He has attributed it to the partial recovery in the national economy, particularly in the industrial and service sectors.
The budget claims that the industrial sector in the state has registered a growth of 4.4 per cent, while the service sector has seen a growth of 8.9 per cent. “Despite the drought in many taluks of the state, the agriculture sector is estimated to grow by 4.5 % during this year,” he said.
The total expenditure for 2015-16 is estimated to be Rs. 1,42,534 crore, with a revenue expenditure of Rs. 1,15,450 crore. The total receipts are estimated to be Rs. 1,39,476 crore, of which the revenue receipts are estimated to be Rs. 1,16,360 crore and Rs. 22,950 crore of borrowings.
The fiscal deficit in the budget is Rs. 20,220 crore which is 2.75 per cent of the GSDP. The total liabilities of the state as on 2015 is Rs. 1,80,815 crore which is 24.56 per cent of GSDP. These parameters are within the 3 per cent fiscal deficit and 25 per cent of liabilities of GSDP as mandated by the Karnataka Fiscal responsibility Act.
The annual plan of 2015-16 is fixed at Rs. 72,597 crore, as against the planned expenditure of Rs. 65,600 crore the previous year, there by has seen an increase of 10.67 per cent. Of the Rs. 72,597 crore, Rs. 67,882 crore comes from the state budgetary resources and the rest Rs. 8,645 crore from the resources of public sector enterprises.
