Chennai: Tamilnadu Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan said today there will be a significant reduction of the Fiscal Deficit from 4.61 per cent to 3.80 per cent during this financial year.
Presenting the Budget 2022-23 in the Assembly today, Palanivel said, ‘reversing an alarming trend of increasing deficits every year since 2014, the revenue deficit is estimated at Rs 52,781.85 crore in 2022-23. The total capital expenditure is expected to be at Rs 43,832.54 crore’.
‘With the economy bouncing back, we must rebalance our priorities and focus on social infrastructure and development without compromising on welfare schemes,’ he added.
Palanivel further said, ‘In order to motivate government school students to aspire to join higher education institutions like IIT, IISC & AIIMS, the Tamil Nadu government will bear the entire cost of undergraduate education of students who studied in government schools from classes 6-12.’
He also said that all assistance would be provided to students who decided to discontinue their education after returning from Ukraine, amid the on-going crisis.
‘The Chief Minister’s free travel scheme has increased the proportion of female passengers from 40 per cent to 60 per cent,’ he added.
He said that 10,01,883 grievances have been resolved by the Mudalvarin Mugavari department.
Palanivel said that the GST compensation period is coming to an end on 30.6.2022.
‘Consequently, in the coming financial year, Tamilnadu will face a revenue loss of approximately Rs 20,000 crore,’ Palanivel added.
He also said that Stalin had requested the Centre for extension of the GST compensation period.
The Tamilnadu government will also set up a new social media monitoring cell within the state Police Department to tackle the menace of hatred on social media, he added.
He further said that the State government has planned to set up industrial parks in Coimbatore, Tiruvallur Perambalur, Vellore, Madurai industrial parks to attract investment of Rs 50,000 crore.
‘Tamilnadu Institute of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences at a budget of Rs 40 crore to provide quality mental health services. The government has also decided to allot Rs 1,019 crore to improve the quality of medical care,’ he announced.
Palanivel also said that the Tamilnadu government has decided to allocate Rs 60 crore to develop basic infrastructure in six newly formed corporations including Tambaram, Kanchipuram, Kumbakonam, Karur, Cuddalore and Sivakasi at Rs.10 crore each. For 28 new municipalities, Rs 2 crore has been allocated.
The Finance Minister said that with a view to establishing the relationship between the Tamil language and the Indo-European language family, a committee of Tamil etymologists will be formed to prepare an etymological dictionary.
AIADMK stages walkout
AIADMK MLAs staged a walkout from the Assembly before the budget presentation alleging that the Tamilnadu government is registering false cases against the Opposition leaders.
When Palanivel Thiagarajan began his presentation, AIADMK MLAs raised slogans against the government.
Speaker M Appavu told the Opposition that it is not fair to protest during the budget presentation. Following this, the AIADMK MLAs staged a walkout.