Dehradun: Uttarakhand has joined the list of the best-performing states in the country in financial management. Among Himalayan states, Uttarakhand ranks second, followed by Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya in third.
The Arun Jaitley National Institute of Financial Management (AJNIFM) has released its Public Financial Management Index Assessment Report for all states in the country for the financial year 2023-2024. Uttarakhand has performed well in financial discipline and fiscal adjustment. AJNIFM is a premier institute under the Ministry of Finance of the Central Government, providing research and training in the field of financial management and fiscal policy.
According to the report, Uttarakhand’s GSDP is ₹332,998 crore, a 14 percent increase. The per capita income is ₹246,178. Uttarakhand has spent 18 percent of its total expenditure on education and health. Uttarakhand generated more than half of its total revenue from its own resources in fiscal year 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic. Uttarakhand’s share of total revenue has been steadily increasing since then.
Uttarakhand’s tax revenue has grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14 percent since fiscal year 2020. This includes GST at 14 percent, petroleum and liquor at 9 percent, stamp and registration fees at 23 percent, and state excise duty at 10 percent.
Uttarakhand had a revenue deficit until fiscal year 2020. In 2021, the state had a revenue surplus of ₹1,113 crore, which increased to ₹5,310 crore in fiscal year 2023. The revenue surplus has enabled the state to generate primary account surpluses in fiscal years 2022 and 2023, reducing the fiscal deficit from ₹7,657 crore in fiscal year 2020 to only ₹2,949 crore in fiscal year 2023. The report projects that the state’s expenditure on salaries, pensions, and interest payments will account for approximately 58 percent of its total revenue expenditure by fiscal year 2024, down from 66.5 percent in fiscal year 2019.
The state government is continuously striving to improve financial management. Uttarakhand’s ranking second among Himalayan states in the State Financial Management Index report by AJNIFM is a major achievement.
-Dilip Jawalkar, Finance Secretary
