Thaindian News

New Delhi, July 6 (IANS) The annual plan outlay for Tamil Nadu for 2011-12 was finalised at Rs.23,535 crore Wednesday at a meeting between Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa here.

The outlay was higher by around Rs.3,470 crore compared to the previous year’s figure.

Earlier during the meeting, Ahluwalia complimented the state government for new efforts and initiatives towards accelerating growth. He said the human development index of Tamil Nadu is better than the national average.

He added that the focus of the development initiatives in the 12th Five Year Plan should be on sectors like energy, health, water and urbanisation.

Ahluwali said in the process of rebuilding the state, emphasis should also be placed on improving revenue generation and that public private partnership in roads and health sector needed to be encouraged.

In her speech, Jayalalithaa said the state will not be in a position to meet the stipulations relating to revenue and fiscal deficits due to its high debt.

“The outstanding debt of the state today has climbed to Rs.1,01,541 crore, in addition to the outstanding debt of the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Company (TANGEDCO) of over Rs.40,000 crore,” she said.

“2010-11 saw dropping growth in the industrial sector, but a high growth in the services sector, enabling an overall growth of 11.3 percent in the state’s economy,” Jayalalithaa said.

She said a Vision 2025 document will be prepared to identify and remove bottlenecks in development. Referring to agricultural sector, Jayalalithaa said the state has planned a crop specific strategy to incentivise changes in cropping patterns.

“For this purpose, the state will invest heavily in micro-irrigation to conserve scarce water, precision farming, and farm mechanisation to support technologies such as the System of Rice Intensification (SRI),” she said.

Referring to the state government’s projects like free laptops to students, free houses, mono rail, solar energy parks and others, she said they would need substantial central assistance, apart from Rs.100,000 crore as special assistance for debt relief.