Hyderabad: Depending on the Centre’s assistance and borrowings the Andhra Pradesh government has to prepare its annual Budget for this financial year. The revenue collection in the first quarter has come as a disappointment to the government with inflows dipping 15 to 20 per cent.
In the present financial year the government expects '27,148 crore as tax revenue. The excise department too failed to achieve its target in the first quarter. Finance officials said the decreasing revenue from the excise department will affect revenue from sales tax too.
The government expects '60,319 crore in this financial year, without which it will be unable to take up any new schemes or allot sufficient funds for existing schemes. For example, the government recently hiked social welfare pensions from October 2, for which it needs an additional '2,048 crore.
In view of the state’s financial position the government had submitted proposals for various schemes estimated to cost '73,387 crore and requested the Centre to make allotments in the Union Budget. This was overlooked by the Centre. According to the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act the AP government can borrow '12,195 crore this financial year. The government has already sent a proposal to the RBI to allow the borrowing of '2,000 crore.
The government is expecting a revenue of '20,625 crore from sales tax, Rs 3,458 crore from excise, Rs 799 crore from motor vehicles tax, and Rs 1,708 crore from the stamps and registration department.
The government has set a target of '592.23 crore for the stamps and registration department in the first two months. But the department has collected only '361.45 crore.
The government has imposed a ban on land transactions in the state and due to this the revenue from stamps and registration department is likely to decrease.
Finance officials said that the available Rs 8,416 crore for the budget is not sufficient to meet Centre-aided schemes including the matching state share of '10,740 crore. Adding that for the 10-month period the money available for the budget is just Rs 5,791 crore.
Finance minister Yanamala Ramakrish-nudu will begin the budget preparation exercise from Monday.
