GUWAHATI, April 5 - Laying a statement in the Assembly on the State�s expenditure, Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today said the government has spent 70.49 per cent of the total budgetary allocation during 2017-18, bettering previous year�s 69.15 per cent mark.
As per the statement, the State had spent Rs 70,105.50 crore against a budgetary allocation of Rs 99,453.08 crore in the financial year 2017-18. Sarma said never before in the history of Assam did any state government spend 70.49 per cent of the total budgetary allocation as is the case for 2017-18.
The statement reflected that Guwahati Development, Industries and Commerce and Water Resources departments have spent as low as 19. 5 per cent, 31.14 per cent and 19.81 per cent respectively of the total fund allocated to them. The departments with highest percentage of expenditure are Pension and Public Grievances (103.37 per cent), Education (95.45 per cent), Governor Secretariat (92.70 per cent) and Public Health Engineering (90.14 per cent).
Later, replying to questions on departments with low percentage of expenditure at a press conference, the minister said that many aspects, including non-release of funds from the Centre or financial institutions like the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank, contributed to low percentage of expenditure.
�The ministers concerned of the respective departments would be better placed to spell out the exact reasons,� Sarma said.
The minister further divulged that the Finance department in the year 2017-18, cleared nearly 97 per cent of the total ceiling proposals. �We now aim to increase the level of expenditure to nearly 75 per cent during 2018-19 and then scale it further to 80 per cent in the subsequent year,� he said.
