States get Rs 51,000 crore less till September-end

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 29

Though the Centre has transferred Rs 2.60 lakh crore to state governments as devolution of share of taxes, this amount is Rs 51,000 crore less than the amount transferred to the states till the end of September in the last fiscal.

This is largely because in the first six months of the current fiscal, the Central Government has been able to collect only a quarter of the targeted amount for the full year. The Centre received Rs 5.65 lakh crore of receipts till September-end, which was about a quarter of budgetary estimates, according to the monthly account of the Union Government up to September 2020.

Worryingly, the Centre has spent a very small portion on capital expenditure or for the building of productive assets.

The total expenditure incurred by the government till the end of September was Rs 14.79 lakh crore. But most of it – Rs 13.13 lakh crore – was on the revenue account and just Rs 1.66 lakh crore on capital account.

In revenue expenditure, Rs 3.05 lakh crore was for interest payments and Rs 1.56 lakh crore on account of major subsidies.

Of the collections of Rs 5.65 lakh crore, tax revenue comprised the lion’s share – Rs. 4.58 lakh crore – non-tax revenue amounted to Rs 92,274 crore and non-debt capital receipts were Rs 14,635 crore of which recovery of loans were Rs 8,854 crore and disinvestment proceeds Rs 5,781crore.