UP’s kitty in Union Budget estimated at Rs 2 trillion
Poll-bound UP is likely to get more than Rs 2 trillion, including the share in Central taxes and duties, from the Union Budget 2022-23. Of the total kitty of Rs 2 trillion, the share of UP in the central taxes/duties in the next financial year is estimated at over Rs 1.46 trillion, thus accounting for almost 75 per cent of total funds.
Virendra Singh Rawat
Lucknow
Poll-bound Uttar Pradesh (UP) is likely to get more than Rs 2 trillion, including the share in Central taxes and duties, from the Union Budget 2022-23.
Of the total kitty of Rs 2 trillion, the share of UP in the central taxes/duties in the next financial year is estimated at over Rs 1.46 trillion, thus accounting for almost 75 per cent of total funds.
Compared to the estimated devolution of taxes/duties to UP in the current fiscal year 2021-22 at Rs 1.34 trillion (revised estimates), the corresponding figure of Rs 1.46 trillion in 2022-23 is about 9 per cent higher.
Interestingly, UP finance minister Suresh Khanna, while presenting the interim state budget on December 16, 2021 for 2022-23 (due to impending assembly elections), had projected a receipt of only Rs 1.26 trillion as share of central taxes/duties.
Therefore, a much higher devolution of share would provide an additional budgetary elbow room to the state government in the next fiscal year, when a new regime would hold office.
Meanwhile, the Rs 2 trillion kitty includes about Rs 15,000 crore as Finance Commission grants.
Other receipts comprise Rs 1,900 crore and Rs 12,000 crore for Swachh Bharat Mission (rural) and Jal Jeevan Mission respectively.
At the same time, the estimated expenditure on the National Highway projects in UP during 2022-23 is Rs 16,350 crore.
This includes the 63km Lucknow-Kanpur expressway, 642km Varanasi-Kolkata expressway, 520km Gorakhpur-Siliguri corridor and 80km Sonauli-Gorakhpur international connectivity. The state will also get Rs 6,241 crore under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyaan.
By the end of 2022-23, about 32 important projects with a cumulative length of 1,533 km and total capital investment of Rs 46,627 crore are likely to be taken up in the state.
The Ken-Betwa river interlinking project costing Rs 44,605 crore will be implemented. It will benefit both UP and neighbouring Madhya Pradesh even as the allocation for the project for 2022-23 is Rs 1,400 crore.
Similarly, the estimated expenditure on various schemes of water resources, river development and Ganga Rejuvenation is Rs 957 crore. It includes Namami Gange Rs 500 crore, Atal Bhujal Yojana Rs 170 crore and Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme and Command Area Development and Water Management Rs 194 crore.
Meanwhile, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath has hailed the Union Budget as inclusive and progressive, one which would help the country realize the vision of AatmaNirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India).
He claimed UP’s farmers would be the largest beneficiaries of the budgetary provision of Rs 2.37 trillion in monetary transfer under the minimum support price (MSP) mechanism in 2022-23.
