Punjab Government seems diving in deep financial debt with the end of Month October. As per Controller Audit General (CAG) of Punjab, the state does not seem to be meeting the revenue target as expected. The kind of data CAG has revealed till October 2022 is showing financial condition of the government. The Punjab government claims that state has made the best liquor policy this time, but the effect of the liquor policy is not visible as claimed.
CAG data shows that from April 2022 to October 2022, the income from liquor has decreased when compared to the previous year by 0.30 per cent. As of August 2022, 0.2 per cent of the government’s revenue came from liquor, but now it has come down by October end. This time the Punjab government has set a target of Rs 9647.87 crore from liquor, but till the month of October, the government has earned Rs 4719.12 crore from liquor.
The Punjab government has taken a loan of Rs 13940.15 crore in the last 7 months (April 2022 to October 2022). While Rs 8795.96 crores have gone towards repayment of interest. The Punjab government has taken more debt than the previous year and has also paid more interest than the previous year. The Punjab government had taken a loan of 11128.40 crores till October 21 last year while this year it has taken a loan of 13940.15 crore
till October 22.
It is a matter of relief for the Punjab Government that the Punjab Government has received an income of Rs 2552.95 crore from non-tax revenue, which is 12.68 percent more than the previous year.
The revenue deficit of the Punjab government has increased by 11.10 per cent while the fiscal deficit has increased by 12.68 per cent. The primary deficit has increased from 71.40 per cent to 138.55 per cent. From which it is clear that the income of the government is not increasing. The Punjab government has set an income target of 119913.41 crores this year, while so far only 50 per cent of the target has been achieved, the government has got an income of 60744.89 crores in 7 months, this income includes a debt of 13940.15 crores. There has been an increase of 10.57 per cent in the expenditure of Punjab government compared
to last year.
The Punjab government’s income from stamp duty has also decreased. From which it is clear that people are taking less interest in real estate. Compared to the previous year, the income of the government has decreased by 3.28 percent. The Punjab government has set a target of Rs 3600 crores from stamp duty but the government has earned 2160 crores till October. Land revenue has decreased by 20 per cent, the government has received an income of Rs 51.09 crore.
Thus, there has been a decrease in the income of the Punjab government from GST. The Punjab government has seen a slight decrease of 0.60 per cent in the income from GST compared to last year.
The government has seen a decline of 16.62 percent in its income from petrol. In the year 2021, there was an income of 4275 crores from petrol till October, while there was an income of 3345 crores till October this year. This means that compared to the previous year, the government’s income has decreased by 900 crore rupees.
