16 states recorded revenue surplus, Uttar Pradesh tops with ₹37,000cr
What's the story
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has released a report on state finances for the fiscal year 2022-23. The report reveals that 16 states recorded a revenue surplus while 12 states reported a revenue deficit during this period. Uttar Pradesh led the pack with a whopping ₹37,000 crore surplus, followed by Gujarat and Odisha with surpluses of ₹19,865 crore and ₹19,456 crore, respectively.
Financial overview
Revenue surplus states
Other states that made it to the revenue surplus list were Jharkhand (₹13,564 crore), Karnataka (₹13,496 crore), Chhattisgarh (₹8,592 crore), Telangana (₹5,944 crore), Uttarakhand (₹5,310 crore), Madhya Pradesh (₹4,091 crore), and Goa (₹2,399 crore). Notably enough, both Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh were once classified as BIMARU states (term used to describe the poor economic, infrastructural, and social conditions). However, industrial states like Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra found themselves on the other end of the spectrum with a revenue deficit.
Deficit details
Revenue deficit states
Andhra Pradesh registered the highest revenue deficit of ₹43,488 crore. It was followed by Tamil Nadu (₹36,215 crore), Rajasthan (₹31,491 crore), West Bengal (₹27,295 crore), Punjab (₹26,045 crore), Haryana (₹17,212 crore), Assam (₹12,072 crore), and Bihar (₹11,288 crore). Kerala recorded a deficit of ₹9,226 crore, while Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra posted smaller deficits of ₹6,336 crore and ₹1,936 crore, respectively.
Revenue analysis
Grants and central assistance from Union government
The CAG report also analyzed the revenue of states from 2013-14 to 2022-23. It found an increasing trend in grants and central assistance from the Union government during this period. The share of states in these grants and assistance as a percentage of total revenue receipts increased from 14.31% in 2013-14 to a peak of 23.66% in FY 2020-21, before declining to 16.85% in FY 2022-23.
Financial growth
Grants and assistance to states increased over years
The CAG report also noted that grants and central assistance as a percentage of total Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) increased from 1.82% in FY 2013-14 to 2.28% in FY 2022-23. In absolute terms, these grants and assistance rose from ₹1,92,109 crore in FY 2013-14 to ₹5,91,830 crore by the end of the fiscal year ending March 2023.