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The Tamil Nadu Government has more than doubled its Plan outlay for the next five years to put the economy on an accelerated growth path.
It will not let the ongoing economic slow down affect infrastructure and social security expenditure, said the Governor, Mr K. Rosaiah.
Addressing the Legislature today, he said the outlay for the Twelfth Plan (2012-2017) has been more than doubled to Rs 1,85,000 crore compared with Rs 85,000 crore in the Eleventh Plan.
The extended economic slowdown globally poses a “real threat to fiscal stability and the Government's ability to spend more.” Slow growth, high inflation, depreciating rupee and soaring interest rates have made it difficult to achieve higher growth targets. Investments are slowing down and the growth projections for 2011-12 have been considerably scaled down at the national level.
The negative impact of such “economic slowdown on the State's economy is inescapable.” But the State Government is determined to ensure that spending on infrastructure and social security is not compromised in any manner.
A Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Development Board will be created to conceptualise, prioritise, sanction and expedite critical infrastructure projects. This institutional framework will be established through a Bill to be introduced in the coming budget session. A separate infrastructure development fund will be set up to boost critical projects and a new Public Private Partnership policy will enable resources to be pooled for project implementation.
Despite the gloomy financial situation, the State Government has allocated an unprecedented additional Rs 8,000 crore for a range of social security and development schemes.
Mission-mode approach to urban infrastructure development, filling critical gaps in achieving higher growth will be a thrust area, the Governor said. A comprehensive programme will be launched to deal with urban poverty in the coming budget, he said.
New industrial policy
The Government is in the process of formulating a new industrial policy and sector-specific policies for key sectors. Infrastructure along the potential industrial corridors will be strengthened. An expert committee will be constituted to advise the Government on attracting investments in hardware manufacturing. This will consolidate the State's leadership position in information technology.
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