West Bengal Budget

The West Bengal Budget for 2023-24 was "full of announcements, which can be misleading", said senior BJP leader and noted economist Ashok Lahiri, underscoring that extending freebies will not lead to sustainable growth. The TMC government is known for spending money on 'revdi' politics, handing out freebies which ultimately does not lead to sustained growth, he noted. Infrastructure holds the key in West Bengal, but the roads here are in shambles, he alleged. "The revenue expenditure in the current fiscal was Rs 8,000 crore more than what they had budgeted. Accordingly, the government had to spend much less on capital account. If not much is spent on capital account, how will roads, bridges and ports be built? Lahiri, also a member of the Fifteenth Finance Commission, underlined. "The road infrastructure in West Bengal is in shambles. The NH-34, which connects Kolkata to Siliguri, does not look like a national highway, but resembles the streets of Bow Bazaar at times. Similarly, th

Among the major departments, the allocation for panchayats and rural development is one of the highest at Rs 26,603.51 crore

Her budget proposal has some good news regarding development of the rural road network in the state

Going by the trend of the previous financial year of 2021-22, it seems unlikely to economists that the state government will meet the targeted collection of Rs 79,346 crore of state tax revenue

At the end of March, its outstanding debt is expected to increase from about Rs 4.82 trillion in 2021 to about Rs 5.29 trillion in 2022 and further to a little more than Rs 5.86 trillion in 2023

2% stamp duty rebate, 10% on circle rate for another six months; no Rural Employment Cess for tea during FY23, small tea gardens spared Agricultural Income Tax

Capital expenditure for the fiscal is estimated to be Rs 33,144 crore, and revenue expenditure is pegged at Rs 2,26,326 crore

The government has also proposed to reduce stamp duty by two per cent for registration of deeds, while circle rate was slashed by ten per cent.

Two million new pucca houses for SC/ST over five years, sops for farmers with an increase in financial aid from Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000 and minimum aid from Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000

The state finance minister has announced in its Budget free electricity for consumers with quarterly consumption up to 75 units

State FM presents Budget of Rs 2.55 trillion, up about 7.5 per cent over last year

With an eye on the 2021 assembly polls and the upcoming election in 107 civic bodies in the state, the budget reached out to social sectors and backward sections

Banks, on the other hand, are looking to extend lines of credit despite recent rating downgrades of major listed tea companies

Despite high growth, the outstanding debt of the govt crossed Rs 3 lakh crore in 2015-16

In FY16, the state overshot its expenditure target to Rs 53,101 crore, a 34% rise over 2014-15, an all-time record, said Amit Mitra

Mamara govt announces Rs 1 lakh assistance for 50,000 jobless youth in budget

Ahead of Panchayat Elections in West Bengal, state finance minister Amit Mitra presented a budget with increased focus on welfare schemes, but without any rise in taxes. Under the goods and services tax (GST) regime, the state's own tax revenue increased by around 10 per cent in 2017-18 at about Rs 501 billion. However, it remained short of target, which was set at Rs 558 billion set for this year. The total revenue receipts of the government saw an increase of about 13 per cent at Rs 1330 billion. According to state finance minister, Amit Mitra, against Rs 18.50 billion receivable so far under IGST , the centre is yet to release Rs 10 billion for the state. The outstanding debt of the government increased to nearly Rs 3640 billion, and is expected to further increase to Rs 3948 billion next financial year. The loan repayment bill for this year has been about Rs 472 billion, which is almost same the state's own tax collection of about Rs 500 billion.Among the sops rolled out is the ...

Finance Minister Amit Mitra increased threshold turnover limit to 20 lakh from Rs 10 lakh for VAT

Displaying commitment to fiscal prudence, Mitra proposed to eliminate revenue deficit from next year, from 1.03 per cent last year