Kerala Finance Minister KN Balagopal presented the state budget for 2023-24 in the Assembly on Friday with crucial announcements including increase in fuel cess, liquor price, taxes on vehicle and property.

In an effort to increase the revenue of the state that has been in a worrying situation, the Finance Minister announced that the cess on petrol, diesel and liquor would be increased and has proposed to increase the taxes on property and vehicles.

Presenting the budget, Finance Minister Balagopal said that a social security cess of Rs 2 per litre would be levied on petrol and diesel. He also proposed to levy a social security cess at the rate of Rs 20 for each bottle of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL ) having MRP between Rs 500 to Rs 999 and at the rate of Rs 40 per bottle of IMFL having MRP above Rs 1000

“It is proposed to levy a Social Security Cess at the rate of Rs 20 for each bottle of IMFL having MRP between Rs 500 to Rs 999 and at the rate of Rs 40 per bottle of IMFL having MRP above Rs 1000. Additional revenue of Rs 400 Cr is expected through this,” Balagopal said.

“Another impetus measure for the Social Security Seed Fund is proposed to be brought by bringing the Social Security Cess on sale of petrol and diesel at the rate of Rs 2 per litre. This is expected to bring in additional revenue of Rs 750 Cr to the Social Security Seed Fund,” said the Finance Minister.

The budget proposals will also lead to an increase in the prices of land, as the fair value of the land was also increased by 20 percent. The cost of non-electric vehicles, and industrial and commercial power tariffs will be higher. Homes will also become costlier with a hike proposed in property tax and building permit

One-time tax on vehicles including cars has been increased. The one-time tax on motorcycles has been increased by two per cent.

The Finance Minister allocated Rs 2,000 crore for market intervention initiatives to arrest price rise. “A total of Rs.2,000 crore will be allocated for tackling price rise in the state,” he said. He further announced that a total of Rs.600 crore would be set aside for rubber subsidy.

The budget stressed on promoting public transport with an allocation of around Rs 330 crore for road and water transport.

During the presentation of the budget, Finance Minister Balagopal criticised the Union Government. He said the centrist policies ran against the fiscal federalism enshrined in the Constitution and squeezed the budgetary space of States to muster resources for infrastructure development.

Balagopal gave a clarion call to other non-BJP-ruled states and regional parties to join Kerala in the fight against “the attempts to demolish the federal values of the Constitution and reduce the fiscal space of states.”

The Congress-led Opposition UDF came out strongly against the budget. Opposition leader VD Satheesan said the budget is hiding the critical financial situation faced by the state government. “The budget proposals amount to looting the people. Expenditure is not controlled. The announcements made in the budget are far away from reality,”he said

“When the state is facing inflation, the rise in petrol and diesel prices will adversely affect the market. The imposition of cess on petrol and diesel comes at a time when we are fighting against soaring fuel prices. This will lead to price rise of essential commodities affecting the common man,” Satheesan added

KPCC president K Sudhakaran said that Kerala is going to see fiery agitations against the state budget. “The government imposed an additional tax of Rs 4000 crores without collecting thousands of crores in taxes. The air we breathe is the only one that has no tax burden now,” Sudhakaran said.