The highest underspending of funds at their disposal was seen over the years in Telangana and Assam, an analysis of State of State Finances report of RBI and individual State budget documents has revealed.
At the beginning of a year, the States estimate the total expenditure proposed to be incurred during the year but the actual spending may vary from the budget estimate. On an average, the States have missed their spending target consistently by 7%. The underspending by Telangana was minus 27% while it was minus 25% in the case of Assam. The report highlighted that there was some improvement in spending in Telangana in 2016-17 as the unspent amount was reduced to ₹18,000 crore. Finance Minister Eatala Rajender at a post-budget presentation press conference expected the situation to improve much better in 2017-18. Telangana was found to spend the highest percentage of its total expenditure (17.6%) on irrigation in 2017-18. Andhra Pradesh stood second with 8.9%, followed by Odisha (8.8%), Karnataka (8.6%) and Gujarat (6.9%). Telangana was also at the top in implementation of welfare programmes for SCs, STs and Backward Classes, including expenditure on scholarships of students and construction and maintenance of hostels.
On health front, Telangana was expected to spend the lowest (3%) while Delhi budgeted to spend the highest (13%). The situation was no better in education where the State budgeted an expenditure of mere 8.8%, against the lowest in the country in 2017-18, while Delhi topped with an outlay of 24.9% for the sector. Most States were found to have maintained their fiscal deficit within the range recommended by the Finance Commission. States that crossed the recommended limit included Jammu and Kashmir. On the other hand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Telangana had the lowest fiscal deficit.
