State’s Budget to be presented today
JAMMU: With the growth rate poised to be at 8.49 per cent in Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) in the current fiscal, the state’s finance minister Hasseb Drabu is all set to present the state’s budget today.
With the State Economic Survey Report 2017 portraying a bright picture on the economic front, the Finance Minister, Dr Haseeb Drabu gave final touches to the Budget 2018-19 to be presented by him in the State Legislature. Notably, this will be the 4th Budget in a row to be presented by Dr Drabu.
The Finance Minister and his junior Minister Ajay Nanda were huddled with the team of officers from the Finance Department for the whole day today to give final shape to the budget document which was approved by the State cabinet last evening.
The Budget speech to be delivered by the Finance Minister in the legislature at 12 noon on 11th January, will be telecast live on Doordarshan, Gulistan TV and TakeOne TV. It will be also broadcast live on 92.7 Big FM and Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM.
The Finance Minister said he will make every effort to address the genuine concerns of every section of the society, while finalizing the budget proposals. He said the budget proposals to be presented by him tomorrow will be discussed threadbare by the legislators adding that good and genuine suggestions of the legislators will be given due consideration to make next year’s budget representative to the urges and aspirations of the people.
Dr Drabu said before formulating budget proposals, he undertook an exhaustive pre-budget exercise by consulting all the stakeholders including trade, industry , transporters, intellectuals, academicians, journalists and progressive farmers of both Jammu and Kashmir divisions to get first hand appraisal of their demands and suggestions.
Dr Drabu complimented the team of officers of the Finance Department for working with dedication and zeal to make the whole exercise of the budget preparation fruitful.
Pertinently, the crack team behind the State’s important fiscal exercise was working tirelessly for the past two months under the leadership of Principal Secretary Finance, Navin Kumar Choudhary to prepare the Budget document.
Chief Secretary, B B Vyas and Principal Secretary Finance, Navin Kumar Choudhary, were also present.
The other officers involved in this extended exercise include Director Codes, M A Andrabi, Director Budget, Imtiyaz Ahmad Mir, Additional Secretary Finance, Vishal Sharma, Joint Director Budget, Raman Gupta, Joint Director Resources, Showkat Hussain Mir, Additional Secretary Finance, Shahid Saleem, OSD to Finance Minister, Zamir Ahmad Qadri, Deputy Director Budget, Shafaat Yehaya and Accounts Officer Budget, Mushtaq Ahmad Shah.
Pertinently, the state will show a growth of 8.49 per cent in Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) in the current fiscal, State Economic Survey Report 2017 said.
The report which was tabled by Minister for Finance Haseeb Drabu in State Legislative Council said GSDP at constant (2011-12) prices for 2017-18 is estimated at Rs 1,09,136.52 crore as against the estimate of Rs 1,00,597.57 crore for 2016-17, indicating growth of 8.49 per cent this fiscal.
“At the current prices, GSDP for 2017-18 is estimated to be Rs 1,40,886.76 crore as against the estimate of Rs 1,26,230.
91 crore for 2016-17, showing an increase of 11.16 per cent during the year,” the report said.
The figurative description of GSDP and its related aggregates are indicators of state economy that showcase whether state has made any progress in economic terms over the period of time, it said.
The projected estimate for 2018-19 at constant (2011-12) prices and current prices of GSDP is Rs 1,16,637.44 crore and Rs 1,57,383.77 crore, it said.
The estimate of the state income (net state income) at constant (2011-12) prices for 2017-18 is Rs 90,902.60 crore as against the estimate of Rs 83,717.39 crore for 2016-17, suggesting a rise of 8.58 per cent, it said.
At current prices, state income for 2017-18 is estimated at Rs 1,19,294.71 crore as compared to Rs 1,06,326.40 crore for 2016-17, showing a rise of 12.20 per cent during the year, it said.
The net income at the constant (2011-12) prices and current prices are roughly estimated at Rs 97,352.75 crore and Rs 1,33,596.72 crore, respectively in 2018-19.
Similarly, the per capita real income at constant prices for 2017-18 is estimated at Rs 65,615 as against Rs 61,349 for the year.
This indicates a growth per capita real income of about 6.95 per cent during 2016-17 and per capita income at current prices in 2017-18 is estimated Rs 68,108 as compared to Rs 77,918 in 2016-17, showing rise of 10.51 per cent.
The State Economy is expected to register growth of 8.49 per cent (Advanced) in 2017-18 at constant prices of 2011-12 as compared to the growth rate of 3.29 per cent during 2016- 17, it said.
The projected growth for 2018-19 is roughly estimated at 6.87 per cent.
As far as industry is concerned, it is likely to grow at 6.18 per cent in 2017-18 as compared to 2.68 per cent in 2012 -13, 4.8 per cent in 2013-14, (-)11 per cent in 2014-15, 26.16 per cent in 2015-16 and 3.43 per cent in 2016-17 at constant (2011-12) prices.
Agriculture and allied sector is likely to grow at 8.37 per cent in 2017-18 as compared to 2.49 per cent in 2016-17, it said adding service sector which is main contributor of state s economy is likely to grow by 8.16 per cent in 2017-18 as compared to 1.40 per cent during 2016-17. (with PTI inputs)
KV Correspondent
