Ahead of the Haryana budget pres e nt at i o n l at e r this month, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar held a pre-budget consultation meeting with his cabinet ministers and top officials on Tuesday. As a part of the pre-budget consultations, the Chief Minister reviewed the announcements made last year besides discussing the upcoming state budget. This year, Haryana’s annual Budget session will commence on February 20 and will be held in two parts, with a recess in between.
The first part of the session will be held from February 20 to 23 and the later part during March 16-21. Haryana agriculture minister JP Dalal said his priority would be to allocate higher budgetary provisions for farmers. Transport minister Mool Chand Sharma said he intends to strengthen the transportation system through various means, including procuring new buses. Last year, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who also holds the Finance portfolio, proposed a Budget worth Rs 177,256 crore for the financial year 2022-23. Khattar gave an estimation of Rs 73,000 crore to be collected in tax revenue in the financial year 2022-23. For Budget Estimates (BE) 2022-23, total revenue receipts are projected to be Rs 106,424.70 crore comprising tax revenues of Rs 73,727.50 crore and nontax revenue of Rs 12,205.36 crore.
The share of Central taxes is expected to be at Rs 8,925.98 crore and grantin-aid at Rs 11,565.86 crore. Capital receipts are projected to be at Rs 5,393.89 crore, Khattar had said. The state’s fiscal deficit was expected to be at 2.98 per cent of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) in 2022-23. “For the financial year 2022-23, the fiscal deficit is expected to be within the prescribed limit of 3.5 per cent by the 15th Finance Commission, at 2.98 per cent of GSDP, as per the BE (Budget Estimate) of 2022- 23”, Khattar had said The Chief Minister said that work will be done expeditiously on projects related to the optimum distribution and usage of available water. In addition, micro-irrigation will be promoted. According to the vision of the Central Government, the ongoing housing projects will be completed at a rapid pace with the aim of providing a roof over the heads of every needy.Later interacting with the media, after the meeting, Sh. Manohar Lal said that the state budget for the year 2023-24 will be for the welfare of all sections.
Emphasis will be laid on implementing more schemes for the welfare of the underprivileged in the budget. He said that Haryana should get maximum benefits from the important projects announced in the recently presented Union Budget. He said that the funding for two projects of RRTS has been announced in the Union Budget, of which a benefit of Rs 3600 crore will be in Haryana’s kitty. Similarly, setting up of a Nursing College with every Medical College was also discussed in the meeting. The Chief Minister said that pre-budget meetings would also be held with other stakeholders in the coming days, after which a balanced budget would be presented after incorporating all the suggestions. The budget session of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha will begin on February 20.
