Chandigarh, Oct 3: Citing financial prudence and optimum utilisation of state resources, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday furnished complete details of every single penny spent by the government in past 18 months to Governor Banwarilal Purohit.
In a letter to the Governor, Mann apprised that Rs 27,016 crore has been paid by state as payment of interest whereas Rs 10,208 crore have been utilised as capital expenditure.
He said the state has inherited a lot of debt as part of which Rs 350 crore have been spent for bailing out PUNSUP, Rs 798 crore for bailing out PSCADB, Rs 845 crore to bail out RDF, Rs 2,556 crore for power subsidy arrears (2017-2022), Rs 4,000 crore as sinking fund investment, Rs 1,008 crore as arrears of sugarcane farmers, Rs 1,750 as unpaid central-sponsored schemes and others.
Mann said the government has judiciously spent Rs 48,530 crore for the wellbeing of the people and progress of the state.
The Chief Minister said the government has also made concerted efforts for enhancing the tax collections.
Citing the figures, he said the GST collection in the state has witnessed an increase of 16.6 per cent during their tenure, adding that a hike of 37 per cent has been registered in excise collection. (IANS)
