Bhubaneswar: Orissa Finance Minister Prafulla Chandra Ghadei presented the Vote-on-Account (VOA) of Rs 17,050 crore in the Assembly yesterday. The VOA will be meant for four months beginning from April 1, 2010.

 

The VOA included Rs 12,360 crore non-plan, Rs 3,686.1 crore state plan, Rs 380.6 crore central plan and Rs 619 crore centrally-sponsored plan.

 

Mr. Ghadei projected Orissa's growth rate at 12.5 per cent, well above the national level. Rs 81.04 crore was also earmarked for anti-naxalite operation in the state.

 

The revenue deficit is estimated at Rs 1,205.93 crore in the next fiscal. According to Ghadei, the per capita income of the state during 2008-09 was Rs 29,464 at current price. It went up to Rs 32,814 in 2009-10.

 

The state government also allocated budget for the distribution of rice among poor at Rs 2 per kg (Rs 910.43 cr), Biju Saharnchal Bidyutkaran Yojana for urban electrification (Rs 18 cr), Biju KBK Yojana (Rs 120 cr), Biju Kandhamal and Gajapati Yojana (Rs 28.50 cr) and Biju Gram Jyoti Yojana (Rs 50 cr).

 

Orissa had an outstanding debt of Rs 36366.01 crore by the end of January 2010, said the Orissa Finance Minister.