Finance Minister Marie Wilson said in the Assembly on Wednesday that Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay was determined “not to take a lot of loans”, and had been giving ideas to boost the State’s revenue.
In his reply to the Revised Budget 2026-27 in the Assembly, he said, “The one question that has been raised is regarding the State’s Own Tax Revenue (SOTR), which has reduced from ₹2,29,579 crore to ₹2,26,870 crore, and why spending has increased even when the revenue has reduced. In the last two financial years, the SOTR growth was less than 8%, as shown in the White Paper released by the State government. The previous government had expected 19% growth, but that couldn’t be achieved. We showed in the White Paper that only 12% growth could be achieved in the current scenario. If we take 12% growth into account, SOTR would be ₹2.15 lakh crore. By implementing several revenue augmentation measures, we would get an additional ₹15,000 crore. Through measures such as auctioning of fancy numbers (of motor vehicles), additional privilege fees, faceless GST assessment, rectification of anomalies, revision of user charges, and additional special fees on liquor manufacturers, we can achieve the additional revenue.”
Stating that ₹12,643 crore had been allocated for the VB-G RAM G scheme; ₹5,932 crore for farm loan waiver; ₹5,000 crore for TNPDCL loss funding; and ₹1,545 crore for no-cost electricity, he added that the government had not stopped funding for schemes that directly benefit the public.
“We have begun looking into the corruption in the awarding of tenders under the last government,” he said.
To the Minister’s comment that the actual capital expenditure matters more than what was allocated in the Budget, former Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu said, “There are a lot of reasons for expenditure being less than the estimate. For example, the Finance Minister said capital expenditure was not made (during the DMK government’s tenure), but we also had continuous natural calamities, including floods in Chennai and southern districts. Also, for example, in the School Education Department, we had allocated money to recruit teachers. But it is possible that we may not have been able to appoint them because of a court case and so on. However, there is no reason to think that the recruitment will not happen the next year. We have to make provision for that. It is not right to consider only actual expenditure; that’s not proper planning,” he added., and asked, “You have said that you have brought in Rs. 15000 crore to the Treasury. Please state how and if there has been a realisation. These are funds coming in from the Union Government scheme.
Finance Minister Marie Wilson said, “Excise revenue is ₹1500 crore. We have realised it through auction of fancy numbers of motor vehicles, reforms to rationalise revenue streams, mining revenue, stamps and registration revenue is around ₹5000 crore is expected, but the amount has started coming in. In 2025-26, the debt was ₹9,99,832 crore. The revenue receipt was ₹2,91,114 crore. It was 3.43 times of the liabilities. In 2026-27, the debt is ₹10,98,768 crore and ₹3,50,627 crore. This is only 3.14. Debt to GSDP in 2025-26 was 28% and now, it is 27%. So, Tamil Nadu is progressing towards $1.5 trillion economy because of the Government.”
Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare R. Vinoth, in his reply, said, “The El Niño phenomenon has posed a major threat to agriculture in Tamil Nadu. As the Mettur Dam was not opened on June 12 — the day on which water for irrigation is normally released — due to low storage, the Chief Minister provided a Kuruvai package with an allocation of ₹134.83 crore to the delta and non-delta districts to protect the livelihood of farmers. Kuruvai paddy has been cultivated on 8.41 lakh acres so far, as against the normal area of 10.60 lakh acres. Further, under the crop insurance scheme, the categories of ‘Prevented sowing’ and Failed sowing’ have been notified in the delta districts, and steps will be taken to ensure that farmers who are unable to cultivate crops, and those whose crops are affected within 30 days of cultivation, receive an average of ₹23,465 per hectare, according to the rules of the scheme. While only 2.77 lakh acres had been insured by 1.05 lakh farmers during the Kuruvai season last year, 3.98 lakh acres of paddy crop have been insured by 1.34 lakh farmers in the current year.”
Published - August 12, 2026 10:30 pm IST
Source: The Hindu - India News
