Assam’s expenditure in 2022-23 over twice compared to that of 2016-17

 STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The expenditure of the State Government for the Financial Year 2022–23, ending on March 31, 2023, was more than twice its expenditure in the Financial Year 2016–17.

The BJP-led coalition government came to power in Assam for the first time in 2016, since when the government has been breaking its own records on expenditure in every year except for 2020–21, which happened to be the election year.

According to documents of the State Finance Department, the expenditure of the State Government in the Financial Year 2016–17 was Rs 57,407 crore. The expenditure increased to Rs 65,436 crore in 2017–18. The expenditures of the government in the financial years 2018-19 and 2019-20 were Rs 71,851 crore and Rs 82,588 crore, respectively.

The Assembly election in the State was in April 2021, leading to a slight fall in the State government’s expenditure to Rs 79,155 crore in 2020–21. This is because the poll code of conduct came into force in the state in March for the Assembly election when the government could not take any new schemes. In the financial year 2021–22, Himanta Biswa Sarma came to power in the State in May and made a remarkable achievement in government expenditure by crossing the Rs 1 lakh crore mark. According to the Finance Department, the overall expenditure of the government in that year was Rs 1,06,305 crore, which is Rs 27,150 crore more than the expenditure of 2020–21.

The expenditure of the State Government increased even more in the financial year that ended on March 31, 2023, to Rs 1.24 lakh crore. This is more than double the expenditure of the State Government in the Financial Year 2016–17.

On the increase in the financial expenditure of the State Government, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma tweeted, “In FY 2021–22, Assam achieved a key economic milestone—the expenditure of our government had surpassed one lakh crore (1.06 L cr) for the first time ever. In FY 2022–23, we kept up the momentum, and I am happy to share that this fiscal year we have achieved an expenditure of 1.24 L cr. This is reflective of the state’s growing economic prowess; 15% of our expenses are for capital growth. I am grateful to the Government of India for pursuing a policy of granting greater fiscal autonomy to states through enhanced devolutions and other means.”

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