Tax on diesel reduced in MP

Bhopal, Feb 26 (UNI) Maintaining the tax buoyancy after implementation of Value Added Tax, the Madhya Pradesh government has reduced VAT on diesel making it cheaper by 75 paise per litre while entry tax on several goods was raised from half to one per cent to net Rs 54 crore, Finance Minister Raghavji told the Assembly today.

Presenting a Rs 236.64-crore deficit budget for the 2007-08 fiscal, Mr Raghavji said that in fulfillment of the Bharatiya Janata Party's poll promise to reduce VAT on diesel to benefit the farmers and poor, it was reduced to 26 per cent from 28.75 per cent with a revenue loss of Rs 178 crore. Tax reduction on diesel would check price rise to a certain extent, he said.

Fiscal deficit for the year was estimated at Rs 4,654.63 crore against Rs 4,593.23 crore for the current fiscal and it was 3.34 percent of the Gross State Domestic Product.

Claiming that the targets set under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act were fulfilled, Mr Raghavji added that the state had not resorted to overdraft in the past three years and not availed ways and means advances for two years.

Revenue surplus of Rs 2,006.73 crore was projected in 2007-08 against surplus of Rs 1,763.38 crore in 2006-07, he said, adding that total revenue receipts for 2007-08 were estimated at Rs 27,995.84 crore, while the revenue expenditure was estimated at Rs 25,989.11 crore. The state's own tax revenue, estimated at Rs 11,716.31 crore, was likely to grow at 15.24 per cent compared to this year.

The state's opening balance for 2007-08 was estimated at minus Rs 354.77 crore and the closing balance at minus Rs 236.64 crore -- the gap would be covered with additional resource mobilisation and economy measures, said Mr Raghavji, who presented the budget for the fourth successive year amidst an opposition boycott over ''burdening'' the common man with enhanced taxation.

The Minister said that a gender budget had been launched for 13 departments in order to ensure empowerment and active participation of women in development schemes.

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