Shillong, 21 Feb: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Wednesday presented a Rs 2,029 crore deficit budget for the 2024-25 financial year, calling the document ‘Mission 10’, an action plan for making the northeastern state a USD 10 billion economy by 2028.
In his budget speech, Sangma, who also holds the finance portfolio, said that the total receipts stood at Rs 27,072 crore, of which revenue receipts were at Rs 23,515 and capital receipts at Rs 3,557 crore.
Excluding borrowings of Rs 3,527 crore, the total receipts were estimated to be at Rs 23,545 crore, while the total expenditure was at Rs 27,072 crore, of which revenue expenditure was estimated to be at Rs 19,653 crore and capital expenditure at Rs 7,419 crore, he said.
Excluding the repayment of Rs 1,498 crore loans, the total expenditure is estimated to be at Rs 25,574 crore, the CM said.
He said interest payments for the 2024-25 fiscal were estimated to be at Rs 1,236 crore and pension payments at Rs 1,865 crore.
“I am, therefore, presenting the budget for the financial year 2024-25 with a fiscal deficit of Rs 2,029 crore, which is around 3.83 per cent of the GSDP,” Sangma said while presenting the budget in the House.
“I would like all the members of this august House and every citizen to remember this budget as ‘Mission 10’ — an action plan for building a USD 10 billion economy through leveraging 10 opportunities and providing 10 guarantees. The accomplishment of ‘Mission 10’ in 2028 will coincide with 10 years of the MDA government,” he added.
The CM asserted that the state’s target to be among the top 10 states in the country in terms of per capita GDP by 2032 is “ambitious but possible”.
“My government will make every effort to make it possible. As an intermediate goal, Meghalaya will contribute to the vision of a ‘Viskit Bharat’ (developed India) by increasing its GDP to USD 10 billion by 2028. This is a commitment I made to Prime Minister Narendra Modi a year ago. I reiterate the commitment today in this august House,” he said. (PTI)
He said the vision of doubling the state GSDP and making Meghalaya a USD 10 billion economy was set with GSDP of 2022-23 as the benchmark, when the state’s GSDP was Rs 42,697 crore or USD 5.3 billion.
“The GSDP for the 2024-25 fiscal is projected at Rs 52,973 crore or USD 6.6 billion. The annual growth rate for the period from 2023 to 2025 has been a reassuring 11.4 per cent. These figures are encouraging and demonstrate that the state is on track to achieve the USD 10 billion economy target,” Sangma added.
The CM allocated Rs 5,271 crore for the gender budget, Rs 4,501 crore for climate action, Rs 3,539 crore for education, Rs 1,970 crore for health and Rs 2,709 crore for the roads and building sector.
He said in the current year, total estimated transfers from the Centre are expected to increase to Rs 18,168 crore from the budget estimate of Rs 15,467 crore.
“The share of central taxes is expected to increase to Rs 9,355 crore for the financial year 2024-25 from the revised estimate of Rs 8,471 crore for the current year, registering a growth of 10 per cent,” he said, adding that the state’s own tax revenue has increased by 23 per cent to Rs 3,262 as compared to the previous year. (PTI)