Kerala Budget 2018 - Free PDF/Video Download

Kerala Budget 2018…….lets break it down!

• February 2, 2018 : The Finance Minister of Kerala, Dr. T.M. Thomas Issac, presented the Budget for financial year 2018-19 on.
• This is Pinarayi Vijayan government’s second budget.

Lot of literature references-

• FM Thomas Isaac is known to have a fondness for literature.
• That’s clearly coming across in his budget speech.
• To highlight his announcements, the FM keeps referring to beautiful proses from novelists like Sarah Joseph.
• To describe a village school, the FM again steals a paragraph from a novel.
• There are also references to Malayalam poems.

Budget Highlights

• Gross State Domestic Product of Kerala (GSDP) for 2018-19 (at current prices) is estimated to be D7,72,894 crore.
• 12.6% higher than the revised estimates for 2017-18.
• Total expenditure is estimated to be Rs 1,27,093 crore.
• 14.1% increase over the revised estimate of 2017-18.
• In 2017-18, the revised estimates indicate that the expenditure is expected to be Rs 8,250 crore (6.9%) lower than the budget estimate

Unemployment

• According to the state’s economic review document tabled in the House on Thursday, 35,541 engineering graduates were seeking jobs in 2017, up from 30,719 in 2016.
• In the case of general work seekers, the figure stood at 34.62 lakh, of which
• 21.40 lakh are Class 10 educated,
• 3.58 lakh had studied below Class 10,
• 7.31 lakh have studied up to Class 12,
• 2.17 lakh are graduates,
• 16,000 post graduates.

Budget Highlights-

• Total receipts (excluding borrowings) for 2018-19 are estimated to be Rs 1,03,136 crore.
• An increase of 16.4% as compared to the revised estimates of 2017-18.
• In 2017-18, total receipts fell short of the budgeted estimate by 5,269 crore.
• Revenue deficit for the next financial year is targeted at Rs 12,860 crore, or 1.7% of the state Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
• Fiscal deficit is targeted at Rs 23,957 crore (3.1% of state GDP).

Some key announcements

• Govt allocates D 80 crore towards welfare of NRIs.
• Considering the huge remittances flowing into the state from NRIs in Gulf countries and beyond, the state government has allocated money towards programmes for their welfare.
• Govt allocates D16 crore for those stuck in difficult or perilous situations in foreign countries.
• Govt allocates D14.5 crore towards jail renovation across the state.
• Half the revenue earned from jails will be used for the welfare of prisoners.
• Govt allocates D28 crore for Sabarimala master plan

Govt increases tax on alcohol

• The government is set to increase tax on alcohol in the state.
• The state currently receives an annual revenue of Rs 12,000 crore from liquor sales.
• There were attempts to bring prohibition a couple of years ago as of now, only hotels rated 3 stars and above can open bars.

Memorial for AK Gopalan in Peralassery!-

• This was very much expected, especially after Congress MLA VK Balram criticised the Communist icon in a Facebook post.
• FM Thomas Isaac talks a great deal about AKG and goes on to announce Rs 10 crore to build a memorial and museum in the memory of AK Gopalan in his hometown of Peralassery.
• The announcement gets a great deal of desk-thumping by LDF MLAs in the Assembly

Some major steps –

• Gas connections to be made available in every town through which GAIL pipeline passes.
• Pensions for every KSRTC employee to be paid by March – BIG!
• Special package for KSRTC to be announced by March.
• 52 railway over-bridges will be built. Thalassery-Mysuru rail line will be deliberated with the help of Railways.
• Kozhikode to get a mobility hub on the lines of Vyttila in Ernakulam.
• Rs 144 crore for the field of culture.
• Rs 46 crore for Ayurveda education and Rs 23 crore for homeopathy education.

Tourism gets boost

• The FM says the state tourist department has got 9 awards.
• He praises the Muziris and spice-route heritage projects.

Meenangadi’s ‘carbon neutral’ project gets praise-

• Started in June, 2016 by Isaac, the carbon neutral project in Meenangadi village in Wayanad district is going on with the objective of ensuring zero net carbon dioxide levels in the village.
• The project was inaugurated by Isaac after he came back from Paris post attending the climate change conference.
• In his speech, Isaac hoped that such projects in Meenangadi translates to other village panchayats in Wayanad and beyond.

Rs 2859 crores for SC/ST-centric programmes-

• Departments of Rural Development, Compensation to Local Bodies, Agriculture, and Welfare of Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes saw the highest increase in allocations.
• The FM says the government is committed to the empowerment of the SC/ST communities in the state and allocates Rs 2859 cr for a slew of programmes devoted to them.
• Rs 10 crore for bamboo, Rs 54 crore for cashew industry, Rs 19 crore for khadi industry, Rs 150 crore for coir industry is being set aside.

Women-friendly measures-

• The state government is allocating Rs 1267 crores for women’s welfare.
• ‘She-lodge’, temporary housing for working women, will be thrown open in Kochi.
• Rs 50 crore for measures to prevent attacks on women.
• Rs 2000 hike for ASHA workers has also been announced in the budget.
• 13.6% of the budget is being allocated for women-centric measures, the FM says.

Isaac is super-fast express!-

• Monetary aid for marriages increased from Rs 10,000 to Rs 40,000.
• Endosulfan package will be fully-implemented. Rs 50 crore in first installment will be disbursed soon.
• Rs 43 crore for renovation of bud schools.
• Rs 300 crore for computer labs.
• Rs 33 crore for digitisation of schools in the state.
• Rs 2500 crore for Life Housing scheme

Health announcements-

• Healthcare: Resources for the Comprehensive Health Care Scheme of the government will be mobilised through Kerala Lottery.
• Malabar Cancer Centre will be upgraded to the status of Regional Cancer Centre (RCC).
• Medical Colleges will have more doctors and nurses.
• District hospitals will have department for heart-related ailments.
• Taluk hospitals to have trauma-care centres.
• Rs 1685 crore for public health services.
• An ambulance service on the model of Uber will be launched soon, the FM says

Focus on poultry farming through Kudumbashree

• Rs 200 crore allocation for Kudumbashree
• The FM says that through the self-help group of Kudumbashree, which has grown extensively to lakhs of women in the state, poultry farming will be popularised in every village panchayat.
• Good-quality chicken meat will be available, the FM promises.

In 3 years, will ensure no one stays hungry in Kerala: FM

• On the lines of Operation Sulaimani in Kozhikode and the recently launched ‘Numma Oonu’ in Kochi, a state-wide scheme to eliminate hunger is being planned.
• The FM says that by the time his five-year government comes to an end, no one in Kerala will spend a day without food.
• That’s an ambitious target!
• With focus on social security schemes, the FM allocates Rs 20 crore for a project to alleviate hunger in urban and rural areas.
• He praises the project implementation in Alappuzha district and says it will be expanded across state.

Drinking Water

• A Water Authority Innovation Zone will be started to address issues of distribution of drinking water and waste water treatment.
• Revamping of the Kerala Water Authority will be undertaken.

GST criticised in budget speech

• FM Isaac criticises the implementation of the Goods and Service Tax.
• He says GST has made check-posts inactive.
• It has only benefited the corporates, he says.
• GST has affected the state’s revenues, he says.
• GST is expected to be the largest component of Kerala’s tax revenue.
State GST is expected to contribute Rs 27,000 crore.
• Out of this amount, transfer-in from IGST is expected to be Rs 13,035 crore.

Extensive coastal package of Rs 2000 crore post Ockhi

• The finance minister has announced a package of Rs 2000 crore for coastal areas.
• This was expected as the state just went through one of its worst natural disasters.
• The rescue and relief measures by the state government in the backdrop of Ockhi were much-criticised especially by fishing families.
• The FM praises the women who have had to take care of households after the demise of their husbands.
• An additional Rs 150 crore for sustainable green development of coastal areas.
• A loan of Rs 584 crore for port development will be sanctioned.

Finance Minister Thomas Isaac presents Budget 2018-19-

• Finance Minister Thomas Isaac had indicated that he has a tough task at hand considering the state’s financial distress owing to demonetisation and the after-effects of the Goods and Service Tax.
• Also, the fact that Kerala’s coastal areas have still not recovered fully from Cyclone Ockhi, he will have to satisfy the hopes of the fishing families.
• One was a man-made disaster, the other a natural disaster.

Infrastructure-

• Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB): Proposals amounting to Rs 20,000 crore (37%) out of around Rs 54,000 crore under KIIFB have been sanctioned.
• Registration and Stamp Duty: A stamp duty of Rs 1,000, or 0.25% of the sale value, whichever is higher, will be charged.
• Rate of land tax will be modified.
• Existing fair value of land will be increased by 10%.