Chennai: The growth rate of Tamil Nadu had increased in the year 2014-15, compared to that in 2011, when the AIADMK government took over the reins of power, according to the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
The growth rate which was on a downward trend in 2010-11 had reversed during 2014-15, it said. The state’s revenue receipts, as a percentage of Gross State Domestic Product had slightly dipped by 0.12 per cent, but the grant-in-aid from the Union government had helped economic growth, the report said.
The fiscal deficit was largely managed through market borrowings, loans from the center and other financial institutions and from the proceeds of small savings and deposits and advances.
The report stated that the ratio of fiscal deficit to GSDP was 2.78 per cent which was within the target of three per cent, though the fiscal deficit had increased from Rs 20,583 crores in 2013-14 to '27,163 crores in 2014-15.
On debt management, the CAG said that a falling debt-GSDP ratio could be considered as leading towards stability. However, the state’s debt-GSDP ratio has been gradually increasing from 2012-13 onwards.
The report warned that the state did not have details of schedule of repayment for Rs 15,685 crore and the bunching of repayments in any particular year would exert pressure on that year’s budget.
Reacting to the CAG report, one of the officials said the report had actually confirmed that the downtrend in economic growth had been reversed during this financial year and the state has been put on the growth trajectory.
The fiscal deficit should not be viewed from the perspective of the increased amount, but the percentage alone gave the correct picture, as the size of budget grows every year.
The report itself had stated that the percentage of deficit, which is 2.78 is well within the target of three per cent, he said.
Profit from IT park, loss from transport, power
Tamil Nadu’s IT ventures are bringing profits, while the transport and power sector are incurring losses, the audit report of the CAG has said, besides faulting the state government for not taking up the Cooum Restoration Project despite allocation of funds.
The TIDEL park in Chennai is earning a profit of Rs 43.43 crore, while eight transport corporation are bringing heavy losses to the tune of Rs 2,654 crores.
Of the eight transport corporations, the MTC had seen the highest losses and it suffered losses due to to selection of ineligible contractors for operating the online ticketing system. Tangedco had reported a loss of Rs 13,985 crore for this year.
The report stated that it had not collected infrastructure development charges of Rs 87.59 crore and failed to collect transmission charges of Rs 124.19 crore. Another 41 PSUs of the state are netting a profit of Rs 1,978 crore, the report said. The CAG report has faulted the state government for not taking up the Cooum river restoration project for which Rs 500 crore had been sanctioned in the 2014-15 budget, besides failing to take up the monorail project.
According to the report, the government had set aside Rs 500 crore for the Cooum scheme and Rs 200 crore for the monorail project in 2014-15 budget. But, works on the Cooum restoration began in phases in 2015-16.
The bids for the Rs 200 crore Monorail was surrendered due to non-finalisation of the bid process for the project, it added.
