Revenue Surplus States FY23: CAG Report Highlights

New Delhi, Sep 22 (PTI) As many as 16 states were in revenue surplus during 2022-23, with Uttar Pradesh topping the chart with Rs 37,263 crore, followed by Gujarat and Odisha, according a CAG report.

As per the fiscal responsibility and fiscal consolidation path prescribed by the XV Finance Commission, the states were required to have either zero-revenue deficit or become revenue surplus during 2022-23.

"As on 31st March 2023, 16 states, out of the total 28 states, were revenue surplus and 12 were in revenue deficit," said the publication on State Finances 2022-23, the first-of-its-kind by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

Revenue receipts of these 16 states exceeded their revenue expenditure.

Uttar Pradesh was followed by Gujarat with a revenue surplus of Rs 19,865 crore, Odisha (Rs 19,456 crore), Jharkhand (Rs 13,564 crore), Karnataka (Rs 13,496 crore), Chhattisgarh (Rs 8,592 crore), Telangana (Rs 5,944 crore), Uttarakhand (Rs 5,310 crore), Madhya Pradesh (Rs 4,091 crore), and Goa (Rs 2,399 crore).

The combined revenue deficit of the 12 deficit states was Rs 2,22,648 crore. Finance Commission grant for bridging revenue deficits of states in 2022-23 was Rs 86,201 crore, which was 39 per cent of the aggregate revenue deficit.

The report said there were 12 states, whose revenue expenditure exceeded their respective revenue receipts.

The revenue deficit states were Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal.

In four states -- Bihar, Kerala, Meghalaya and Maharashtra -- revenue receipts were 90-100 per cent of the revenue expenditure.

In six states (Assam, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal) revenue receipts were 80-90 per cent of the revenue expenditure.

In Andhra Pradesh and Punjab, the report said the revenue receipts were 75-80 per cent of the revenue expenditure.

According to the report, revenue deficit grants in 2022-23 was 50 per cent of the total Finance Commission grants to the states.

The largest share of the revenue deficit grant went to West Bengal (15.76 per cent), Kerala (15.28 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (12.24 per cent), Himachal Pradesh (10.88 per cent), Punjab (9.60 per cent), Uttarakhand (8.28 per cent), Assam (5.67 per cent), Rajasthan (5.64 per cent), Nagaland (5.26 per cent) and Tripura (5.13 per cent).

These 10 states received about 94 per cent of the total Finance Commission Revenue Deficit Grants.

For 2022-23, the total Finance Commission grants under various categories, including certain grants for health sector, was Rs 1,72,849 crore.

The largest share of the total, about 50 per cent, was revenue deficit grants, followed by 26 per cent Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI) grants, 11 per cent Urban Local Bodies (ULB) Grants, 10 per cent State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and 1 per cent State Disaster Mitigation Fund (SDMF).

The publication on State Finances 2022-23 provides an overview of finances of 28 states for the financial year 2022-23, together with fiscal data and analysis relating to the 10-year period from 2013-14, CAG added.