Maha revenue deficit pegged at Rs 8,463 cr

MUMBAI: ROM being one of India���s most prosperous and revenue-surplus states, it took just six months for Maharashtra to plummet to the lows of being a revenue-starved one. The state���s interim budget for 2009-10, presented on Tuesday, projects a revenue deficit of Rs 8,462.56 crore. This is in stark contrast to over Rs 4,200-crore surplus projected in 2008-09 budget. Considering the current election season, the state government has not proposed any new taxes in the budget.

For 2009-10, the state has proposed a revenue expenditure of Rs 89,173 crore against an estimated revenue income of Rs 80,710 crore. Presenting his maiden budget, finance minister Dilip Valse-Patil acknowledged that the revenue deficit was a result of the economic slowdown, but insisted that the government had not curtailed development expenditure for the next fiscal. The government, however, has refrained from announcing any new schemes for the next fiscal as the election code of conduct is in force.

Mr Patil said the state government would present a full budget for 2009-10 during the monsoon session in June-July. The current global meltdown seems to have hit the state economy hard. For the first time in several years, the state economy is estimated to grow at a rate (6.7%) lower than the national GDP (7.1%). In 2007-08, the state economy grew at a scorching 9.2%, which was higher than the national GDP growth of 9%.

���All revenue heads have shown a decline in the current fiscal itself. The slowdown has forced us to revise targets for major sources of revenue like stamp duty and sales tax. This trend is set to continue for the better part of next fiscal too,��� said a finance department official who did not wish to be named. Ironically, the 2008-09 budget had pegged a revenue surplus of Rs 4,263 crore largely on the basis of the then economic boom.

There was a fall in the state���s overall tax collection. For instance, the stamps and registration fee was projected to fetch Rs 9,600 crore in the current fiscal, but the target has been revised to Rs 8,600 crore now. Similarly, the sales tax collection has been revised to Rs 28,439 crore, Rs 600 crore less than the original target of Rs 29,039 crore. The corporation tax is also estimated to bring Rs 305 crore less than projected earlier.