Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister and Minister-in-charge of Finance Chowna Mein on Tuesday presented a Rs 758.26 crore deficit Budget for the financial year 2023-24 in the State Assembly here.
Mein said, “In the Budget Estimates (BE) of 2023-24, we are in a position to project total revenue receipts of Rs 29,657.16 crore, which is 14% higher compared to the total estimated receipts of Rs 26,111.63 crore in BE 2022-23, whereas we are projecting the expenditures at Rs 29,582.8 crore.”
“I can state with pride that the State’s GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product) has nearly doubled since 2015-16. We have nearly reached the Rs 38,000 crore GSDP mark. When compared to Rs 20,373 crore in 2015-16, this is a staggering rise of 86%,” the Deputy Chief Minister said, adding that out of the Rs 17,497 crore increase, more than Rs 10,000 crore was added to the GSDP only in the past five years.
“The per capita income of the households, which is an important component of ‘happiness’, has increased from Rs 88,768 to Rs 1,15,902 in the last 6 years. This Rs 27,134 increase translates to more than 30% increase in the average income of the people of the State,” Mein said.
The Dy Chief Minister also shared that a “remarkable” success has been attained with the implementation of GST in Arunachal Pradesh. Our diligent and focused approach coupled with the increased economic activity and growth has resulted in the number of registered taxpayers increasing substantially from 7,365 in the year 2017-18 to 19,082 at present, which is a growth rate of 159%.
In fact, Arunachal Pradesh is one the few States to consistently record positive growth in GST collections.
The GST collection from April to January 2023 is Rs 1,403.64 crore as compared to Rs 890.09 crore collected for the same period in the last financial year; the growth rate is 58%.”
“The main philosophy of this Budget is ‘Vishwas’ – ‘Hamara logon pe vishwas aur logon ka ham pe vishwas’ (trusting each other, then only we can build a strong foundation for a happy society),” Mein said.
He said this year’s budget is guided by six pillars to lay a strong foundation of a ‘happy’ society, which is constructively engaged in the sustainable development of the State, on the lines of ‘Saptarishi’ or seven priorities of the Union Budget 2023-24.
“Our vision is to support the aspirations of our people through impetus to economic growth and provide them with ample livelihood opportunities, especially the youth,” he said.
He said that while the last year’s Budget 2022-23 was the Year of e-Governance and Ease of Doing Business, the annual Budget of FY 2023-24 envisages to attain Atma-Nirbharta (self-reliance) through fulfilling ‘youth aspirations and creating livelihood opportunities’.
“Together, we will make sure that in the year 2047 of India @100 and Arunachal @75, we become a ‘Developed’ State of a ‘Developed’ Nation,” the Deputy Chief Minister said with conviction while talking to the newsmen.
