A Rs 60-crore allocation for the Kochi Metro Rail and a Rs 100-crore grant for the Kerala Agriculture University were the main attractions for the state in the Union budgeton Friday.
The allocation for the Kochi Metro, yet to get the final nod from the Planning Commission and the Union Cabinet, meant the Centre’s support and green signal for the start of the project.
The decision to pare the excise duty and exempt LNG from customs duty would provide a big boost to the LNG terminal in Kochi that’s expected to go on stream by the year-end.
Expectedly, chief minister Oommen Chandy and finance minister KM Mani were all praise for the budget, unlike in the case of the Railway budget which didn’t impress the state government.
Mani said the GST network by August would prove beneficial to the state.
The increase in the central devolution of taxes by over Rs 1,000 crore for the fiscal year 2012-13 is likely to give a big relief to the state, which is in a state of perennial fiscal stress. The central devolution for the coming fiscal is placed at Rs 7,082 crore.
The proposals to increase the base rate of excise and service taxes to 12 per cent from the existing 10 are unlikely to go down well in a consumer state like Kerala. The two measures are feared to stoke inflation, putting the life of the common folk in difficulty.