The Stateās revenue receipts continued to be below the expected levels at the end of the second quarter of the current financial year, with revenue receipts not reaching at least 50% in a majority of sectors, except for Sales Tax and Goods and Services Tax.On the expenditure front, however, the State reached 77.76% in terms of interest payments and 96.6% on pension payments. Against the interest payment of ā¹21,304 crore budgeted for the fiscal year, the State repaid ā¹16,565 crore till the end of September, with six more months to go, indicating that the interest burden will continue to weigh on the State finances.
The Government spent ā¹14,235 crore on pension payments, clocking in at 96.6% of the ā¹14,736 crore budget estimate.Expenditure on salaries and wages reached ā¹26,258 crore in the first six months, which is 52.23% of the ā¹48,358 crore budget provision. The State is bracing for higher expenditure as it will implement the release of two instalments of Dearness Allowance from Octoberās salary, payable in November.Revenue-earning departments like GST (ā¹29,565 crore), Stamps and Registration (ā¹9,033 crore), Sales Tax (ā¹18,830 crore), and State Excise duties (ā¹10,470 crore) continued to rise moderately; revenue through non-tax sources and Grants-in-Aid and Contributions remained dry at ā¹5,754 crore and ā¹3,705 crore, respectively.
This is against the budget estimates of ā¹35,730 crore through non-tax revenue and ā¹24,166 crore through grants-in-aid and contributions for the fiscal year.Expenditure on salaries and wages reached ā¹26,258 crore in the first six months, which is 52.23% of the ā¹48,358 crore budget provision. The State is bracing for higher expenditure as it will implement the release of two instalments of Dearness Allowance from Octoberās salary, payable in November.The Stateās overall revenue receipts at the end of the first half were ā¹92,013 crore, just 38.14% of the ā¹2.41 lakh crore projected in the budget estimates.
Borrowings and other liabilities constitute almost half of the revenue at ā¹44,612 crore. The Government, according to RBI reports, availed net borrowings of ā¹25,900 crore and gross borrowings of ā¹36,900 crore till the end of August, indicating the quantum of repayment of principal and interest on loans borrowed earlier.
This āevergreeningā of loans, i.e., securing new loans to repay old ones, would not come under regular borrowings, giving some relief to the state and allowing it space to raise loans to meet its immediate requirements.Meanwhile, the State is experiencing high inflation, along with a few others. Inflation ranged from 2.9% to 6.9% across states/UTs, while Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry recorded inflation in excess of 6% across both rural and urban areas.
Published - October 25, 2026 04:09 pm IST