Assam, Meghalaya only Northeast states in revenue deficit: CAG report

Assam recorded a revenue deficit of Rs 12,072 crore in the fiscal year 2022-23, while Meghalaya posted a deficit of Rs 44 crore, making them the only two northeastern states among 12 states nationwide with a negative revenue balance, according to a comprehensive financial report released by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

Six northeastern states - Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim - featured among the 16 states with revenue surplus, contrasting with the deficit positions of Assam and Meghalaya.

The CAG's first-ever decadal study on state finances shows Assam and Meghalaya among the states where revenue receipts fell short of revenue expenditure. Other deficit states include Andhra Pradesh with the highest deficit of Rs 43,488 crore, Tamil Nadu (Rs 36,215 crore), Rajasthan (Rs 31,491 crore), West Bengal (Rs 27,295 crore), Punjab (Rs 26,045 crore), Haryana (Rs 17,212 crore), Bihar (Rs 11,288 crore), Kerala (Rs 9,226 crore), Himachal Pradesh (Rs 6,336 crore), and Maharashtra (Rs 1,936 crore).

Assam's revenue generation shows the state produces less than 40 per cent of its total revenue from its own tax and non-tax sources. This places it alongside Bihar, Himachal Pradesh and Meghalaya in the category of states with low self-revenue generation capacity.

Among northeastern states, all eight - including Assam and Meghalaya - recorded States' Own Tax Revenue of less than 20 per cent of their total revenue receipts. However, the other six states managed to achieve revenue surplus despite this low self-generation rate.

The report identifies Assam among 11 states that used borrowed money to finance current expenditures rather than capital investments. These states include Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Mizoram, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, where capital expenditure was less than net public debt receipts in 2022-23.

Nationally, the revenue surplus category is led by Uttar Pradesh with Rs 37,000 crore surplus, followed by Gujarat (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).

States with the highest own revenue generation include Haryana with over 80 per cent self-reliance, Telangana (79 per cent), Maharashtra (73 per cent), Gujarat (72 per cent), Karnataka (69 per cent), Tamil Nadu (69 per cent) and Goa (68 per cent).

The CAG report, released on September 19 by CAG K Sanjay Murthy during the State Finance Secretaries Conference, provides the first comprehensive decadal analysis of state fiscal health from 2013-14 to 2022-23.

Combined public debt of all 28 states increased from Rs 17.57 lakh crore in 2013-14 to Rs 59.60 lakh crore in 2022-23, representing 22.96 per cent of their combined Gross State Domestic Product of Rs 2,59,57,705 crore.