SHILLONG:
Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma has said that the budget tabled on March 23 is people-centric, and citizens will be at the core of every policy and decision that the government makes.
On the criticism that the government is excessively indebted, Sangma responded that the debt is so far within the limit set by the Finance ministry.
He further clarified that the central government repays 90 per cent of the funds for externally-aided projects and only 10 per cent is repaid by the state, he told reporters after presenting the budget in the Assembly.
Sangma told reporters after presenting the state’s budget.
BALANCE ECONOMY WITH ECOLOGY
Regarding the climate budget that will be introduced to check the rampant coal mining and coke plants polluting soil, air and water, Sangma said it was necessary to balance economy and ecology – that people’s livelihoods are protected but resources are not completely laid to waste as the environment degrades.
“The environment budget is there to reflect and to show that we are also investing in the environment,” he said.
DOUBLING THE GSDP
On his promise to double Meghalaya’s Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP),
He said the projection is based on the performance of the last financial year.
However, Sangma admitted the target was ambitious, and can only be realised if the state remained on a growth trajectory, particularly investments over the last five years in infrastructure works that have yielded high returns.
The next stage, he said, was to pump capital into the primary sector.
Sangma’s government is also projecting revenue earned through excise to cross the Rs 400-crore mark, along with GST collections of Rs 1,785 crore.
Scientific coal mining is expected to start soon, which will produce non-tax revenue, besides revenue from the auction of 30 lakh metric tons from Coal India Limited.
SHY ON TAXES
Sangma also added that the government is expecting “a 20 per cent jump from the state’s own tax revenue from last year.”
However, he also noted the limited scope for introduction of new taxes or raising existing ones in the state.
“The only thing we can do is increase percentages in certain areas, which the government does time and again,” he said.
Sangma reiterated the need for Meghalaya to attract private sector investments, and for this, they will rely on private public partnerships, IT parks and large-scale processing units.
AIR TRANSPORT
On the issue of air connectivity in the state, Sangma said a new airport on the outskirts of the city was mooted earlier, but such a project will require massive land acquisition – running into the crores.
“There is a lot of uncertainty and ambiguity when it comes to the new airport,” Sangma said.
According to him, the most feasible option is to improve Umroi Airport’s capacity by way of expanding the runway and involving technical experts to assess its landing capability for larger aircraft.
On an earlier proposal for hill cutting near the Umroi Airport, a controversial and environmentally dubious practice, Sangma said, “We are basing our decision on a report that came a long time back from the Airport Authority of India. So if we do a technical and feasibility study once again, maybe we could be coming out with other options rather than cutting hills, or go for new acquisition,” he said.
LITTLE HOPE FOR MEDICAL COLLEGE
On the issue of setting up a medical college in Shillong through a public private partnership, Sangma said that the government has observed that running a medical college is challenging and such partnerships would be ideal.
However, besides the exorbitant expenditure to maintain a medical college, Sangma noted that Meghalaya simply did not have the requisite number of doctors, academic professionals and other staff to furnish such a college with.
Medical academia is a highly competitive field in the country, where Meghalaya lags by miles, making it an unattractive destination for high-quality lecturers and professors.