Despite heavy deficit, basic stamp duty reduced

Chandigarh, June 20 (UNI) Despite a heavy deficit of Rs 570.41 crore during the current fiscal, the Punjab Budget for the remaining nine months proposes reduction of one per cent in the basic stamp duty from six to five percent total and abolition of VAT on Snuff (Naswar).

Presenting the maiden budget of the Shiromani Akali Dal and BJP government, Finance Minister, Mr Manpreet Singh Badal, however painted a gloomy picture of the state finances. He said that Punjab which was once the number one state in the country in respect of progress, now stood at a crossroad of "progress and disaster".

He proposed revenue receipts during the fiscal year at Rs 23,159.54 crore and expenditure at Rs 24,589.03 crore, leaving a net deficit of Rs 4174.01 crore. The total budget size for the year was put at Rs 29,890 crore, while the opening balance for the current financial year would be a deficit of Rs 659.97 crore.

However, with public dept, payments, loans and advances, recoveries and public accounts, the curent financial year would close with an overall deficit of Rs 570.41 crore.

It may be recalled that soon after the SAD-BJP assumed power in March this year, the Finance Minister had got passed a vote-on-account for the first three months of the current fiscal.

While proposing no new taxes in the budget, Mr Badal said that to meet the aspirations of the people and to mount a credible development effort, the present Government has no choice but to raise additional resources. Therefore he proposed that for additional resource mobilization the Change of Land Use (CLU) charges being imposed in the periphery area around Chandigarh would be leived throughout the state, which would be notified by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This measure is expected to generate Rs 210 crore per annum.

While pointing out that the state was getting a small amount of royalty on non-ferrous mineral (sand, gravel, boulder, etc), the Finance Minister proposed to raise Rs 200 crore from this source through upward revision of rates of royalty and other measures.

Rates will be formally notified by the Department of Industries.

"The foregoing measures are likely to generate additional revenue of about Rs 410 crore per annum, which has been reckoned in the Budget 2007-08", he added.

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