Focus on power, IT; no fresh taxes

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, FEB. 23. The Finance Minister of Kerala, Mr. T. Sivadasa Menon, today presented a tax-free Budget, which contains a bunch of new programmes in ``sunrise'' sectors and sops for some sections, all couched in modest terms as the elections to the Assembly are round the corner.

It envisages revenue receipts totalling Rs. 10,833.67 crores, an expenditure of Rs. 13,366.09 crores and a deficit of Rs. 398.90 crores.

The Opposition described it as a pre-election stunt which did not rise above the level of a political resolution in spite of Mr. Menon's loud claims.

The Finance Minister prefaced his announcements with the words that he was not detailing the proposals for expenditure in all the sectors as was customary in a Budget speech as it was only an interim Budget. Neither were any tax proposals included in the Budget. He was, therefore, focussing briefly on only some of the development sectors particularly the ``sunrise'' sectors for the State - ``on the crest of which all of us would expect Kerala to ride forward to further progress and prosperity.''

Power headed the list with an allocation of Rs. 611 crores. The Minister said that the Government proposed to increase the installed capacity from 1,062 MW to 2,568 MW. Steps were under way to increase the generation by 1,000 MW during the coming five years. A sum of Rs. 233 crores would be spent for improving the transmission sector and Rs. 130 crores for the distribution sector. The Information Technology sector to which the Government was planning to give top priority came next. The programmes in this area included the setting up of an IT corridor and IT habitat. A sum of Rs. 1 crore was earmarked for opening new hitech IT development centres and Rs. 5 crores for the development of the Indian Institute of Information Technology - Kerala. The setting up of integrated service centres of the type functioning in the Capital in the district headquarters, conversion of rural libraries into community information centres and development of web-based education were the other programmes on the cards.

The programmes in the area of tourism included the development of inland waterways at a cost of Rs. 3 crores, a mega project with Central assistance for the infrastructure development of the backwaters at a cost of Rs. 154.68 crores, the implementation of Destination Kerala at a cost of Rs. 6 crores, restoration of heritage buildings at a cost of Rs. 50 lakhs, development of the Bekkal resort at a cost of Rs. 1 crore, development of Thenmala and Kannur as tourism centres, construction of guest houses and distribution of subsidies and incentives for the development of tourism.

The Minister said that the Government expected 21,000 SSI units with a capital outlay of Rs. 500 crores to be set up in the State during the coming year. They were expected to provide employment to 89,000 persons.

A sum of Rs. 2 crores was earmarked for establishing development areas and development plots and providing infrastructure facilities. The Kinfra, which has completed seven of its major projects, was being provided Rs. 21 crores for its activities during the coming year. The KSIDC was being given Rs. 30 crores. Its projects included the Rs. 100- crore ceramic sanitaryware project at Kasaragod, Rs. 1,500-crore gas pipeline project connecting Kochi, Kayamkulam, Kasaragod and Mangalore, Rs. 350- crore DC power project at Kasaragod and the Rs. 535-crore petroleum pipeline laying project from Kochi to Karur.

Even though the State's Plan outlay for the agriculture sector was Rs. 167.20 crores, the total amount to be spent in the area would come to Rs. 500 crores. It included the schemes to be implemented by the local bodies also.

The agriculture tax relief for rubber and coffee holdings of up to 20 hectares and the reduction in the tax on tea, coffee and cashew from 8 to 4 per cent would continue during the coming year also. There were schemes for the development of paddy, coconut, cashew and pepper cultivation, cattle-rearing and fishing, which included a festival bonus for fishermen and development of fishing harbours.

In tune with the policy which successive Governments of Kerala had been adopting for years, Mr. Menon set apart big sums for education - Rs. 2969.37 crores - and health - Rs. 753 crores. He said that the Government would this year introduce sufficient number of new courses which were aimed at giving the State a clear advantage in the sphere of higher education. It would also evolve a comprehensive policy to start as many professional colleges in the State designed to provide adequate avenues for professional education.

The activities in the health sector would be aimed at improving the facilities in the existing institutions. His other major announcements included provision of Rs. 161 crores for maintaining the statutory rationing system and for maintaining universal coverage and Rs. 50 crores for extending the market intervention machinery to all the panchayats.

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Section  : Southern States
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