Chief Minister Pema Khandu recently claimed that revenue collected by the government of Arunachal has increased in the last financial year from Rs 900 crore to Rs 1253 crore. Further he has set an ambitious target of generating Rs 2000 crore revenue in the financial year 2018-19. The state government is taking right step by focusing on the need to increase the revenue. Arunachal is mostly depended on central grant and it has cost the state badly. One of the main reasons for constant political turmoil is the total dependency on central government fund.
Govt keeps changing in the state whenever a new party comes to power at centre. The political instability severely impacts the developmental activities. Therefore there is urgent need to generate more revenue within state for self sustainability. The increase in revenue generation will led to increase in govt spending in development sector. The state govt should carry out more reforms to increase revenue. Policies that boost economic activity, incomes, and wealth can lift revenues as well. The investment in infrastructure, education, and innovation will boost the economic activity. Actual economic gains depend on policy specifics. Poorly-designed investments and reforms could boomerang, reducing the economic activity. Also Arunachal is a large state and is blessed with immense natural wealth. This should be properly tapped. But first of all state government should focus on bringing major economic reforms. Unless large scale reforms are introduced, the aim of generating bigger revenue will remain elusive.