'Karnataka’s Financial Position is Sound, Govt not Bankrupt' : CM
From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bangalore, Feb 2: In a sharp reaction to former Chief Minister and state JD(S) President H D Kumaraswamy’s criticism that the BJP Government was ``bankrupt’’ and had to use Calamity Relief Fund (CRF) grants from the Centre for payment of salaries of government employees, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa claimed that the state’s financial position was very sound.
Terming the attacks by Kumaraswamy and Congress opposition leader Siddaramaiah regarding the state’s poor financial position, Yeddyurappa contended that the opposition leaders did not know what they were talking about. ``Instead of talking rubbish, let them ascertain the actual facts,’’ he said.
"I am disclosing these details so as to educate the opposition leaders and also the general public. There should be a healthy debate based on facts rather than on conjectures and suppositions,’’ he argued.
Addressing a news conference at Vidhana Soudha on Tuesday, the chief minister said the state’s revenue receipts were very comfortable despite the recessionary trends at the beginning of the current financial year of 2009-10.
"The revenue receipts at the end December 2009 were Rs 32,135 crore, an increase of Rs 851 crore over Rs 31, 284 crore in 2008-09,’’ he said.
The chief minister, who is also holding the Finance portfolio, said: ``The financial position of the Government during the current financial year has shown improvement and is better than the last year.’’
The Governor of Reserve Bank of India and 13th Finance Commission have appreciated the prudent financial management of the Government.
"There is absolutely no substance in allegations made by Siddaramaiah that the State has become bankrupt, ‘’Yeddyurappa said.
He indicated that the budget session of the State legislature would be convened during the last week of February and the Governor would address members of both houses of the legislature.
"We have decided to conduct the legislature session for a minimum of 60 days in 2010, ‘’he said.
The total income of the State as on December 2009 was Rs 32,135 crore, an increase of Rs 851 crore over Rs 31,284 crore as on December 2008 (first nine months of 2008-09 and 2009-10).
The plan expenditure in the first nine months of 2009-10 was Rs 12,413 crore against Rs 9,550 crore, an increase of 30 per cent over Rs 2,863 crore during the same period in 2008-09. It would expect to reach Rs 22,000 crore by March end, 2010.
The commercial taxes collection stood at Rs. 12,426 crore as on December 31, 2009 compared to Rs 12,709 crore during the same period in 2008-09. There was a decline in the collection on account of global economic recession in the first two quarters of 2009-10.
"The situation has improved now and we hope to collect commercial taxes of Rs. 18,000 crore by March 2010,’’ he said pointing out that the collection in 2008-09 was Rs 16,662 crore.
The Excise tax stood at Rs 4,795 crore at the end of December 2009 against Rs 3,985 crore in December 2008, an increase of 20 % (Rs 810 crore).
The motor vehicle tax collection registered at Rs 1371 crore, an increase of Rs 40 crore compared to December 2008 (Rs 1331 crore).
The stamp duty and registration fee stood at Rs 1989 crore as on December 2009 against Rs 2,576 crore in the first nine months of 2008-09.
There was, however, a decline in the collection on account of the reduction of registration fee from the earlier rate of 7.5 % to 6 % during the present year, the Chief Minister said.
Referring to the total expenditure of the State, he said exependitrue in 2005-06 was Rs 34,973 crore, Rs 44,085 crore in 2006-07, Rs 48,109 crore in 2007-08, Rs 54,039 crore in 2008-09 and expected to reach Rs 58,000 crore in 2009-10.
The Chief Minister said all four budgets presented by him shown revenue surplus, which is a rare feat in the history of Karnataka.
The revenue surplus achieved in 2006-07 was Rs 4,152 crore, Rs 3,776 crore in 2007-08, Rs 1,631 crore in 2008-09 and Rs 1390 crore as on December 2009.
He said the fiscal deficit of the State remained at 3.2 % of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) in 2008-09 and expected to remain within the limits of 4 % of GSDP fixed by the Centre in 2009-10.
The deficit as on December 2009 was 1.35 % of the GSDP. The Centre and many state governments have not yet come out of fiscal deficit and the Centre’s fiscal deficit reached beyond the limits, he said.
The outstanding debt of the State stood at Rs 78,000 crore, 27 % of the GSDP, he said explaining that the Government was paying 11 % of the total revenue towards debt servicing.
Yeddy to buy power at Rs 4.50 per unit to help citizens
From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bangalore, Feb 2: Frustrated and tired of the frequent power cuts? Well, don’t fret too much, because Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa is well aware of the plight of citizens and is determined to try his best to mitigate the sufferings.
"We will buy 280 mw of power from private power suppliers at the exhorbitant price of Rs 4.50 per unit to ease the severe shortage of power in Karnataka,’’ the Chief Minister announced in Bangalore on Tuesday.
Addressing the media,Yeddyurappa, who also holds the finance and energy portfolios, said due to lack of proper planning and lack of far sightedness on the part of the previous governments, the state was currently experiencing a power deficit of about 200 mw of power.
"In order to improve power supply, our government has issued short-term tenders and given letter intent to purchase 280 mw of power at the rate of Rs 4.50 per unit,’’ he said.
The Government has decided to purchase 200 MW from Jindal Power Limited and 80 MW from Tata Power Company, he said.
In addition, the Chief Minister said tenders would be floated shortly to supply additional 200 MW power.
Also, tenders would be floated in a week’s time as a mid-term measures to arrange to buy power for the next 2 to 3 years. The Government has planned to generate a minimum 5,000 to 7,000 MW to overcome the power crisis in the State, he said.
Asserting that the BJP Government has added 1252 MW to the installed capacity during the last 19 months, he said pointing out that the Dharam Singh government had added 961 mw and 373 mw during the H D Kumaraswamy regime.
The state government has planned several power projects and they included a thermal power plant (4000 mw) at Kudigi in Bijapur, two thermal units of 800 mw each at Yeramarus in Raichur, a 800 mw thermal power station at Yedlapur in collaboration with BHEL, a second 500 mw thermal power plant at Bellary, a 1320 mw thermal plant in Gulbarga and a 1320 mwhydro power project at Ghataprabha in Belguam, he said.
The Udupi Power Corporation would commence power generation from April, 2010. The preparations were on to set up two thermal power projects of 800 mw each at Godhana of Chattisgarh, the chief Minster said.
Referring to utilisation of funds under the Centrally sponsored schemes, Yeddyurappa said the Government has utilised Rs 352 crore in 2008-09 and already spent Rs 1692 crore under the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme till December 2009.
The Centre has sanctioned Rs 4,254 crore under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission for a five year period. The Government had spent Rs 258 crore in 2008-09 and Rs 714 crore as on December 31, 2009, he said.