Puducherry CM N.Rangasamy Presents Budget Estimates for FY 2021-22 

Union Territory (UT) Puducherry, Chief Minister (CM) N.Rangasamy who also holds the Finance Portfolio has presented the Budget Estimates for the Financial Year (FY) 2021-22. It was a tax free Budget presented in the UT assembly

Fiscal Indicators:

• The total outstanding debt of the UT as of 31st March 2021 is INR 9334.78 crore, which is 22.17% of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) in 2020-21 is within the Fiscal Responsibility & Budget Management (FRBM) norms.
• The average growth rate of the UT is 10%

Major Announcements in the Budget:

i.Crop loan waiver: The crop loan availed by farmers through Co-operative banks to be waived off.

ii.Petrol price Reduced by INR 2.43 per litre due to the Reduction of Value Added Tax (VAT) on petrol by 3 per cent.

iii.The education loan availed by the students through Puducherry Adidravidar Development Corporation (PADCO) Limited is to be waived off.

iv.Scheduled Castes (SC) welfare:

• Financial assistance to the parents of poor SC brides for performing the marriage of their children to be enhanced from INR 75,000 to INR 1,00,000.

v.Tourism:

• The development of Yacht Marina in Puducherry and development of an entertainment zone in Manapet under the technical expertise of NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India).
• “Industrial Status” to be provided to the Tourism Sector to encourage private investors/entrepreneurs and to create employment for youths in tourism-related business.

vi.Housing: Financial assistance given to poor people for the construction of houses has been enhanced to INR 3.50 lakh by the merger of Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Centenary Housing Scheme and Prime Minister Awas Yojana.

vii.The World Bank assisted the “Enhancing Coastal and Ocean Resource Efficiency” (ENCORE) project to be implemented at an outlay of INR 111.90 crore.

About Puducherry

Lieutenant Governor – Tamilisai Soundararajan
Chief Minister – N.Rangasamy