The 2022-23 Budget was passed in the Karnataka Assembly and Council on Tuesday with Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai promising measures to mop up more revenues alongside fiscal discipline.
"The government saw a slow start in 2021-22 owing to Covid-19 and fell behind in revenue receipts by almost Rs 5,000 crore. However, once the Covid situation eased, the government was able to pick up pace," Bommai, the finance minister, said.
Bommai said specific measures were taken in the third quarter of the 2021-22 fiscal to shore up tax and non-tax revenues.
"In the last six months, we increased our resource mobilisation. Our target for revenue collection was Rs 1.19 lakh crore. We worked on filling up the gaps, including maximising the excise revenue, among other measures such as cutting the guidance value rates on property registration. This helped us generate additional revenue. By March 31, the government would have mopped up an additional Rs 9,500 crore in tax revenue and Rs 6,000 crore in non-tax revenue," Bommai explained.
However, he said fiscal discipline was the need of the hour. "This means that the government must work towards increasing revenue and decreasing unnecessary expenditure," he said, adding that he is confident that the government would meet the financial targets for 2022-23 and mobilise resources regardless of whether or not the Centre continues GST compensation beyond June 2022.
The Assembly passed three Bills including The Karnataka Fiscal Responsibility (Amendment) Bill, the Karnataka Appropriation (No.2) Bill and the Karnataka Motor Vehicles Taxation (Amendment) Bill.
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(Published 29 March 2022, 16:13 IST)
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