The target to reduce revenue deficit to zero as per 12th Finance Commission recommendations has been achieved and Bihar was heading to a revenue surplus, a Comptroller and Auditor General of India report said.
The report for the period ended March 2009, presented in the assembly by Deputy Chief Minister S K Modi, who holds charge of the finance department, said revenue receipts between 2008-09 increased by Rs 4770.97 crore (Rs 47.7 billion) mainly due to grants-in-aid and share of Union taxes from the Centre.
The revenue expenditure was 80 per cent of the total expenditure.
A total 75 per cent of it was under non-plan, which included expenditure on salary, pension payment, interest liabilities and subsidies, it said.
The report said increasing fiscal liabilities accompanied by negligible rates of return on government investments might lead to a situation of unsustainable debt in the medium to long run unless suitable measures are initiated to compress the non-plan revenue expenditure and mobilise additional resources, both through the tax and non-tax sources.
During 2008-09 there was overall savings of Rs 11313.14 crore (Rs 113.13 billion).
Cases were noticed where Rs 168.88 crore (Rs 1.68 billion) surrendered was in excess of the actual savings.
Out of savings of Rs 9802.01 crore (Rs 98.02 billion), Rs 2669.29 crore (Rs 26.69 billion) was not surrendered and Rs 6310.70 crore (Rs 63.1 billion) was surrendered on the two working days of March 2009 by the concerned departments.
There was 100 per cent surrender of funds amounting to Rs 103.23 crore (Rs 1.03 billion) in 31 schemes.
Excess expenditure of Rs 7026.64 crore (Rs 70.26 billion), incurred during the year 1977 to 2008, was pending for regularisation under Article 205 indicating inadequate budgetary control, the report said.
A performance audit of National Rural Health Mission revealed improvement in flow of funds to rural health institutions and health awareness among rural population, it said.
Image: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar
