Monday, July 16, 2012

Mizoram budget presented in assembly today

Aizawl, Jul 17 : Mizoram budget for the current fiscal amounting to Rs 5,176.25 crore sans any new tax proposals was today presented by state Finance Minister H Liansailova in the Assembly. The budget estimate comprised non-plan allocation of Rs 2,724.36 crore, state plan of Rs 2,300 crore, allocation under North Eastern Council (NEC) and Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) at Rs 40.95 crore and allocation under Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) at Rs 110.93 crore. Liansailova did not propose any fresh increase in the rates of taxes or levy new taxes, but announced that user charges on water supply, increased earlier and later kept on abeyance due to opposition from some section of the public, would be revived. For the first time in the history of Mizoram, Rs 20 lakh was earmarked for promotion of visual arts and to create conducive environment for encouragement of film industry. It was also announced that the MLA Local Area Development Scheme would be enhanced from Rs 10 crore to Rs 12 crore, an increase of 20 per cent, implying that each of the 40 constituencies would receive Rs 30 lakh as against Rs 25 during the last fiscal.