The Times of India               19.07.2013

Planning panel clears Rs 69,000 crore outlay for state

LUCKNOW: Expressing satisfaction over Uttar Pradesh's performance in the previous fiscal, the Planning Commission on Thursday approved an outlay of Rs 69,200 crore for UP in 2013-14. This is an increment of 19.72% over last year's approved outlay. Last year, Centre had approved an outlay of Rs 57,000 crore for UP. The state was also granted a bonus payout of Rs 800 crore as additional Central assistance for the Kumbh Mela.

The plan for the current fiscal was finalised on Thursday following a two-day meeting between a UP government delegation and members of the Planning panel. Deputy chairman of the planning commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, said the Centre this year approved an outlay nearly 40% more than UP government's actual fiscal achievement during 2012-13. Apart from lauding the state government for hosting successfully the Kumbh Mela, Ahluwalia also said the state had improved its performance on the immunisation front, registering an increase from 41% to 65%, which he said was remarkable.

Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, who reached Delhi after expansion of his cabinet on Thursday morning said he was happy the planning commission had agreed to most proposals presented by the state government. This year, he said, UP had also been given Rs 11,335 crore Central assistance.

Speaking to TOI, a UP government functionary said the final proceedings will be completed in a week after which funds will be released to the state government.

Among major changes in this year's promise, though, Akhilesh watered down the state's revenue targets for the current fiscal. Last year, while presenting his maiden annual plan and the 12th Five Year Plan to the Planning Commission, Akhilesh had said the state government would generate Rs 1.70 lakh crore from its own resources. Though the Plan panel had questioned UP on its ability to generate 200 times more than what it managed during the 11th Plan period, the state government had said it planned to attract investments worth nearly Rs 12 lakh crore from the private sector.

Announcing significantly sober targets for this year the CM said the government will generate only Rs 72,861 crore as revenue through tax and investments.

Listing the state government's achievements and reiterating UP's demand for faster release of Central funds, Akhilesh on Thursday also said the government had placed the implementation of Central government schemes on a priority. He also said the SP government is committed to improving the farm sector and social welfare schemes in the state and added the government had made arrangements to disburse payments amounting to Rs 22,000 crore due to cane farmers in the state. He also said UP's growth rate at 5.4% was higher than of India and that though the agriculture sector had seen an overall slowdown, in UP the farm sector had grown at 2.6%.