Petrol, diesel and liquor cost more in Kerala as the Left government imposed a social security cess on their sale as a way to generate additional revenue in the state budget presented here on Friday.
Presenting the budget for the financial year 2023-24, Finance Minister KN Balagopal said that it is proposed to levy a social security cess at the rate of Rs 20 for each bottle of IMFL having MRP between Rs 500 and Rs 999.
He said a cess would be levied at the rate of Rs 40 per bottle of IMFL with MRP above Rs 1,000. “It is expected to generate an additional revenue of Rs 400 crore,” he said.
He said that it is proposed to bring another incentive measure for the Social Security Seed Fund by introducing Social Security Cess at the rate of two rupees per liter on the sale of petrol and diesel.
“This is expected to generate an additional revenue of Rs 750 crore to the Social Security Seed Fund,” he said.
The FM said that the existing fair value of the land would be increased by 20 per cent to bridge the gap between the market value and the fair value.
Meanwhile, to reduce air pollution and promote public transport, one-time tax on electric motor cabs and electric tourist motor cabs has been reduced to 5 per cent of the purchase price.
In his budget, Mr Balagopal, besides announcing several initiatives for the infrastructure and higher education sector, allocated Rs 100 crore for welfare programs and set aside Rs 2,000 crore to tackle price rise.
Starting the budget speech on a positive note, the minister said the southern state has bravely overcome Covid challenges and finally returned to the path of development and prosperity.
He said that though the state’s economy was facing challenges due to the fiscal policies of the Center and the decision to cut the debt ceiling, Kerala was not in debt trap.
Assuring that financial constraints will not affect the government’s welfare and social security schemes, he said Rs 100 crore would be set aside in the budget for welfare development programmes.
The finance minister said the common people would not be ignored while announcing big projects and Rs 80 crore would be allocated to alleviate extreme poverty in the southern state.
A total of Rs 600 crore would be set aside for rubber subsidy in the state budget, he said, adding that a separate research and development budget would be introduced to give more attention to the research and development sector.
He said that a comprehensive industrial and commercial hub would be developed in the vicinity of the under-construction Vizhinjam port.
The minister said more focus would be given to the “Make in Kerala” project to increase the state’s domestic production and boost employment and investment opportunities.