Tamil Nadu budget aims to reduce revenue deficit by over Rs 7,000 crore

Thiagarajan said this in the Assembly on Friday while presenting the MK Stalin-led DMK government’s first full budget. He said the revenue growth that the state witnessed during the value added tax (VAT) regime had not been achieved since the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Act.

“The Covid pandemic has severely affected the finances of all states. At this juncture, the GST compensation period is coming to end on 30.6.2022. Consequently, in the coming financial year, Tamil Nadu will face a revenue loss of approximately Rs 20,000 crore,” the minister said. However, he said that despite the financial strain, the government had fulfilled many of its poll promises for the poor.

The budget has allocated Rs 17,901.73 crore for health and family welfare, with plans to upgrade 19 government hospitals into district hospitals. The government will fully fund the undergraduate education of students who have studied in government schools from Classes 6 to 12. Taking into account that the number of girl students from state-run schools pursuing higher education is low, the government has decided to convert its marriage assistance scheme to a scheme for higher education assistance, under which around six lakh girls studying in Classes 6-12 in government schools will get Rs 1,000 per month till they complete undergraduate degrees or polytechnic or ITI diplomas without interruption.

As part of the Rs 7,474.94-crore outlay for the revenue and disaster management department, Rs 500 crore has been budgeted for flood prevention works in Chennai. The government will set up an advanced early warning system with supercomputers, weather balloons, two weather radars, 100 automatic weather stations, 400 automatic rain gauges and 11 automatic water level instruments.

Allocating Rs 10,285.22 crore for the police department, the government said a new social media centre would be established to prevent cybercrimes “resulting from fake news”.

Rs 4,131 crore has been allotted for loan waivers as part of the Rs 13,176.34-crore budget of the cooperation, food and consumer protection department.

A Rs 300-crore botanical garden will be built near Chennai in partnership with Kew Gardens of London. To renovate and restore ancient temples, the government will spend Rs 100 crore.

Ilam Thedi Kalvi, the flagship programme to address the learning losses caused by the pandemic, has been allocated Rs 200 crore as part of Rs 36,895.89 crore budgeted for school education. Rs 50 crore has been allocated for Naan Mudhalvan, a pet project of the chief minister to train five lakh youths every year by enhancing their knowledge, intellect and skills.

The government will spend Rs 3 crore to support startups of scheduled caste and scheduled tribe entrepreneurs. Five per cent of all divisible procurement by government and governmental agencies shall be reserved for products manufactured by SC and ST entrepreneurs from the state. The government has sanctioned construction of 443 houses at Rs 20.7 crore for tribals such as Irulas. In the coming year, an additional 1,000 new houses will be built for them at Rs 50 crore.

A knowledge city is to be developed through international collaboration. “This city will have branches of world-renowned universities with research and development hubs, skill training centres and knowledge-based enterprises,” the finance minister said.

The archaeological department will expand its excavation project to seven places in Tirunelveli, Virudhunagar and Dharmapuri districts. A collection of Periyar’s written works will be published in print and digital formats in 21 Indian and world languages at Rs 5 crore.

Rs 190 crore to renovate 149 Samathuvapurams; Rs 50 crore to develop a startup ecosystem; a Rs 75-crore startup hub at Nandambakkam in Chennai; central libraries in new districts at Rs 36 crore; Rs 25 crore to coach athletes for the Olympics; a state-of-the-art facility for volleyball, badminton, basketball and boxing in north Chennai at Rs 10 crore; 2,213 BS-VI diesel buses and 500 electric buses; Rs 20 crore to support NGOs taking care of abandoned and injured pets and strays; and book fairs in all districts are among the other announcements in the budget.

As soon as the minister began presenting the budget, members of the Opposition AIADMK raised slogans against the government. As they were denied permission by Speaker M Appavu to speak about other issues, they walked out of the House.