Chennai: “Step-by-step measures are being taken to set right the financial position of the Tamil Nadu government,” said Finance Department Secretary M.A. Siddique.
Regarding the key aspects in the budget, Finance Department Secretary M.A. Siddique told reporters at the Secretariat: Three months ago, the government’s financial situation was in a very difficult state.
To improve the financial situation, various measures were taken, including increasing revenue sources and reducing expenses. The financial situation cannot be corrected in a single year. It will take at least 2 years. If large-scale spending is cut in a hurry, the government’s basic functions will be affected.
About Rs. 7,000 crore is due from the central government. Rs. 1,500 crore came through TASMAC shops.
Deficiencies in guideline values in the registration department were identified, and steps have been taken to increase stamp duty revenue.
We are also paying more attention to revenue from the commercial taxes department. We believe that the GST measure will bring in an additional Rs. 4,500 crore. The only opportunity to increase revenue by raising fees lies in the registration department.
Our total deficit is Rs. 1.22 lakh crore. This is less than 3 percent of the state GDP. It is within the borrowing limit. As of last year, the government's debt burden was Rs. 10 lakh crore. The amount of debt will keep increasing every year. Last year, the debt level was 3.4 times the revenue. This year, it will come down to 3.17 times. The allocation for welfare schemes in the budget has not been reduced in order to cut expenses.
Revenue of Rs. 51,000 crore was earned last year through TASMAC liquor sales. This year, we expect to get Rs. 55,000 crore. In the past 3 months, about Rs. 21,000 crore has been borrowed. The next quarter should not be compared with the previous quarter. Overall, we have planned to borrow Rs. 1.22 lakh crore in this financial year. He said this.