BY TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, JULY 20, 2018: THE Fifteenth Finance Commission of the Government of India is visiting the state of Gujarat  from July 22-25, 2018. The Commission led by the Chairman Mr NK Singh as well as Members of the commission Mr Shaktikanta Das, Dr Anoop Singh, Dr Ashok Lahiri, Dr Ramesh Chand and Secretary Mr Arvind Mehta along with other officials would hold meetings with CM and other ministers and state official. Detailed presentations would also be made on the finances of the State Government.  

Apart from the meetings and presentations, State government would also showcase its flagship programmes to the Commission. The Commission would pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Gandhi Ashram on July 24. During the field visits same day, Commission would visit Sardar Sarovar Dam, Statue of Unity and GIFT City. On the following day, it would visit Rajkot to see Aji-I reservoir, SAUNI Yojana Phase 2 and Integrated Command & Control Center (ICCC) under Smart City Project. The Commission would also meet leaders of various political parties, Representatives of Trade and Industry. There would also be an interactive session with Urban Local Bodies and Panchayati Raj Institutions to understand the status of the devolution of funds, functions and functionary to the third tier and outstanding issues related to the State Finance Commission.

It may be noted that Gujarat has been one of the best performing states and has made significant progress in various macro-economic parameters in last decade or so. State GSDP growth rate has been higher than GDP growth of India since 2012-13 and it has been able to generate revenue surplus continuously since 2011-12. The capital expenditure increased continuously from Rs 21,227 crores in 2012-13 to Rs 24,169 crores in 2015-16, but decreased to Rs 22,355 crores in 2016-17. The State's own tax revenue has increased continuously over the period 2012-17. The State's non-tax revenue has shown an increasing trend during the five year period 2013-17. State's total outstanding debt as percentage of GSDP was 21.57% in 2015-16 which was within the target of 25.91 per cent fixed by the 14 th Finance Commission.

Notwithstanding, capital expenditure needs to keep pace to maintain the growth momentum. Gujarat has witnessed moderate growth in GST collections in the first year of its implementation. Commission will try to understand the efforts undertaken by States to improve GST collections. Gujarat is a power-surplus state with installed capacity of 27057 MW in 2016-17 against normal peak demand of 15203 MW. It has achieved reduction in T&D losses from 23.60 % in 2012-13 to 18% during 2016-17. 99.89% electrification of all villages has been achieved by March 2017.

Poverty reduction in Gujarat was faster than the national average but lagged other advanced states. Gujarat is home to 60 million people, of whom one-sixth are poor. Despite performing fiscally well, Gujarat needs to catch up with the national average in Full Immunization, Sex-Ratio and Child Nutrition. Its IMR, MMR, TFR, Life expectancy at Birth, Literacy rate and per capita income are better than national average. State govt. has also submitted a detailed memorandum to the Commission for consideration.

The Finance Commission till now has made significant progress in understanding the needs of Union government and various state governments through numerous meetings and state visits. Gujarat is the sixth state to be visited by the Commission followed by Jharkhand. Commission expects to gain an in-depth understanding of the recent developments and future possibilities of economic growth and development in Gujarat during its interactions and meetings with the state govt.