No new taxes in Bengal budget

Minister highlights progress made since May 2011

February 28, 2015 12:00 am | Updated 07:19 am IST - KOLKATA

West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra, presenting the Bengal budget for 2015-16 in the Assembly on Friday. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Higher Education Minister Partha Chatterjee are seen having a conversation.Photo: Ashoke Chakrabarty

West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra, presenting the Bengal budget for 2015-16 in the Assembly on Friday. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Higher Education Minister Partha Chatterjee are seen having a conversation.Photo: Ashoke Chakrabarty

There were no fresh taxes in the budget statement of West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra who said that the State government had to its credit some unprecedented achievements despite being caught in a debt trap.

The budget, being the last such exercise by the Trinamool Congress government (whose term ends in mid-May 2016) became an election exercise with Mr Mitra devoting a large part of his speech to highlight the progress made since May 2011 (when this government ascended power) and 2014-15.

He said that from 2011 till January 2015 about Rs 1.02 lakh crores have been deducted from the Treasury towards debt servicing. Notwithstanding this (and the revenue shortfall suffered by West Bengal) in 2014-15, plan expenditure has been doubled to Rs 28,159.4 crores from Rs 14,165.2 crores in 2010-11.

Several new initiatives and funds have been proposed in this budget , which includes a Rs 100 crore fund for strengthening women self help groups.

Several sectors like agriculture, panchayat and rural development, education, disaster management urban development and minority affairs development have received the maximum allocation in this budget, whose thrust seems to be on marking out the progress made by the State since May 2011. Multiples like two time increase and 20 time increases peppered Mr Mitra’s one hour long speech.

The allocation on agriculture has been increased from Rs 1,157.7 crores to Rs 1,500 crores. Mr Mitra said that foodgrain production hit an all time high and a host of measures have been put in place to help the small farmer market his produce.

Panchayat and rural development would see a spending of Rs 8,580 crores against Rs 7,460.2 crore this fiscal. Road and sanitation projects are a major thrust area and the State aims to attain the open defecation free status by October 2019.

To take forward its programmes on disaster management, the Mamata Banerjee government is stepping up the spending to Rs 11 crores from Rs 27.5 crores. The major components of the plan are cyclone shelters and underground electrical cable network in coastal areas.

Minority development is a thrust area for the government and Mr Mitra has proposed spending on scholarships, marketing hubs and building boundary walls at public graveyards.

As for industry, the thrust was more on helping the trading community. An increase in VAT threshold was announced alongside the introduction of a new amnesty scheme for bringing more dealers in the VAT network.

Some measures have been announced for tea gardens and micro and small enterprises whose assistance scheme has been extended by a year.

With the State missing its tax revenue targets for this fiscal by nearly Rs 10,000 crores, Mr Mitra will end the current year with a deficit of Rs three crore.

‘Rs 1.02 lakh crores has been deducted from the Treasury towards debt servicing’

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