Bengal’s GST revenue gap is much better than that of the country, said chief minister Mamata Banerjee at Nabanna on Tuesday. “The GST revenue gap in West Bengal which was 33.4 percent in August 2017 registered the surplus of three percent by March 2013, which is far better than that of the country as a whole which has a deficit of 17.9 percent in March 2018,” said Miss Banerjee.
She complained that several new projects are held up due to the panchayat elections. The elections were announced one month seven days ago following which new projects was stalled, she said, adding that the existing projects are on the track.
Officials should ensure that all the detailed project reports of the new schemes are ready so that work can be started as soon as the model code of conduct for the panchayat polls end. She complimented the departments for registering the state’s overall expenditure at 94.11 percent.
State plan expenditure has increased from Rs 49,040 crore in 2016- 17 to Rs 57,778 crore in 2017- 18 with 17.82 percent growth. Capital expenditure has increased from Rs 11336 crore in 2016-17 to Rs 19084 crore in 2017-18 with 68.35 percent growth.
Compared to 2010-11, state plan expenditure has increased 4.8 times and capital expenditure has increased 8.5 times, she said. Similarly, the social sector expenditure has increased 4.17 times, the agriculture and allied sector expenditure has increased 6.6 times and the physical infrastructure sector expenditure has increased 3.7 times.