The Maharashtra Government continues to struggle to close the rising gap between the revenue receipts and expenditure. The state government, which is striving to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and economic downturn, has reported expenditure of Rs 37,378 crore against the revenue receipts of Rs 34,397 crore for April and May 2021.
The state government’s revenue receipts for April were Rs 19,453 crore against Rs 12,008 crore during the corresponding period last year and Rs 14,944 crore in May against Rs 12,094 crore. ‘’Even though the revenue receipts of Rs 34,397 crore for April and May were higher compared to Rs 24,102 crore last year, the expenditure is at a higher side at Rs 37,378 crore. The government in two months has borrowed Rs 16,504 crore. The revenue-expenditure gap may rise till the economic activities are fully operational as the lockdown has impacted them adversely,’’ said a senior bureaucrat.
The state government has estimated total revenue receipts of Rs 3,68,987 crore for 2021-22.
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar at the GST Council Meeting urged the Centre to immediately clear GST compensation dues worth Rs 24,000 crore for 2020-21. He has pointed out that it will help the state tackle the mismatch between the revenue receipts and expenditure and the state government will be able to spend it on various development projects apart from corona containment measures.
Meanwhile, according to the CARE Ratings report, as per the indicative borrowing calendar for Q1 FY22, 28 states and 1 UT are cumulatively slated to raise Rs. 1.78 lakh crore via market borrowings. This is 7% more than the borrowings of Rs.1.67 lakh crore raised in Q1FY21. The amount raised in Q1 FY21 was 32% (or Rs. 40,071 crore) more than what was proposed in the indicative borrowing calendar for the period.
