Odisha budget on February 22

BHUBANESWAR: Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari will have a tough task on his hands while presenting the budget in the State Assembly on February 22 in view of the drastic reduction of the State’s share in Central taxes.

The State is set to get lower share in Central taxes by Rs 10,840 crore and decrease of the horizontal share from 4.629 per cent to 4.528 per cent for next five years as per the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission.

Official sources said Odisha government will have to go for more borrowings to finance different schemes announced by it in view of the reduction in Central assistance as the State economy has been severely hit by Covid-19 pandemic.

Pujari had presented budget of Rs 1.5 lakh crore for 2020-21 before the pandemic. The budget for 2021-22 is likely to be bigger than the previous year.

According to notification issued by the Odisha Assembly, the Budget session will start with the Governor’s address on February 18.

The session will be conducted in two phases from February 18 to 27 and from March 12 to April 9. The session will have 31 days.

Following the presentation of the budget for this year, the government bills and resolutions will be presented on February 24, April 5, 7 and 9. The Appropriation Bill for 2021-22 will be presented on March 31.