The Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) (at current prices) of Nagaland grew from Rs 26,527.42 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 35,933.96 crore in 2022-23.
This was stated in the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India report for 2022-23, which was tabled in the Nagaland Legislative Assembly on March 8 and also uploaded in CAG website www.cag.gov.in.
As per the report, the state’s budget outlay grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.26% from Rs 20,469.97 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 26,092.48 crore in 2022-23.
During 2022-23, the GSDP increased by 12.60% from Rs 31,912.54 crore in 2021-22 to Rs 35,933.96 crore in 2022-23.
The state had a revenue surplus of Rs 688.90 crore which was 1.92% of GSDP. Fiscal deficit was Rs 1,562.63 crore during 2022-23, which was 4.35% of GSDP, and primary surplus was Rs 569.40 crore, which was 1.58% of GSDP.
Revenue receipts increased by 4.82% (Rs 648.12 crore) over the previous year (Rs 13,451.14 crore). The state’s own tax revenue increased by Rs 160.80 crore (12.36%), non-tax revenue increased by Rs 174.82 crore (57.59%), grants-in-aid from the Centre decreased by Rs 212.43 crore (3.05%) and state’s share of Union Taxes and Duties increased by Rs 524.92 crore (10.77%) respectively over the previous year.
Revenue surplus decreased from Rs 1,634.06 crore in 2021-22 to Rs 688.90 crore in 2022 23, while fiscal deficit (Rs 1,562.63 crore) increased by Rs 1,302.11 crore(499.81%) as compared to previous year (Rs 260.52 crore).
Revenue Receipts increased by Rs 2,661.85 crore (23.27%) from Rs 11,437.41 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 14,099.26 crore in 2022-23 at a CAGR of 5.37%.
The share of grants-in-aid in revenue receipts decreased from 57.21% in 2018 19 to 47.94% in2022-23.
Revenue expenditure constituted on an average 86.79% and ranged between 86.17% (2021-22) and 90.54% (2019-20) of the total expenditure during the period 2018-23. The percentage of revenue expenditure to total expenditure was 83.22% and revenue expenditure to GSDP was 37.32% during 2022-23.
Capital expenditure (Rs 2,704.22 crore) increased by Rs 810.37 crore (42.79%) during 2022-23 compared to the previous year (Rs 1,893.85 crore) and stood at 16.78% of total expenditure during the year.
During the period 2018-23, the borrowings were utilised for repayment of earlier borrowings which ranged between 74.38% (2022-23) and 89.30% (2018-19).
During 2022-23, fiscal deficit (Rs 1,562.63 crore) increased by Rs 1,302.11 crore (499.81%) as compared to the previous year (Rs 260.52 crore).
Committed expenditure (Rs 9,921.54 crore) like salary and wages, pension and interest payments steadily increased by Rs 2,652.06 crore at a CAGR of 8.09% from Rs 7,269.48 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 9,921.54 crore in 2022-23. The committed expenditure in 2022-23 was 70.37% of revenue receipts and 73.99% of revenue expenditure.
At the end of 2022-23, the state government provided guarantees of Rs 189.96 crore against loans to various corporations. During 2022-23, the government did not pay any amount as no guarantee was invoked.
The outstanding public debt liability rapidly increased by Rs 5,126.29 crore at a CAGR of 13.02% from Rs 8,115.52 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 13,241.81 crore in 2022-23, whereas the debt/GSDP ratio increased from 39.75 to 43.38%.
There was an outstanding excess expenditure of Rs 455.78 crore under 27 grants (pertaining to 2017-18 to 2022-23). As on March 31, 2023, an amount of Rs 990.75 crore, including both central and state shares, were parked in Single Nodal Agency (SNA) bank account of 74 schemes.
During 2022-23, 105 grants involving Rs 86.65 crore were provided to 19 departments for which utilisation certificates (UCs) were due for submission in 2023-24. As of March 2023, 145 UCs worth Rs 252.11 crore were due for submission for periods pertaining up to 2022-23. The CAG report cautioned that high pendency of UCs was fraught with risk of misappropriation of funds.
There were 323 abstract contingent (AC) bills involving Rs 554.76 crore pending for adjustment by submission of detailed countersigned contingent (DCC) bills, as of March 2023. Out of these, 89 AC bills amounting to Rs 159.70 crore pertained to 2022-23. Here too, the report warned that non-adjustment of AC bills was fraught with the risk of misappropriation.
As on 31 March 2023, there were seven state public sector enterprises (SPSEs) in Nagaland, which included two non-working SPSEs under the audit jurisdiction of the CAG.
The reported stated that prescribed timelines regarding submission of financial statements were not adhered to by the seven SPSEs whose 42 accounts were in arrears.
Out of the five working SPSEs, three had incurred losses aggregating to Rs 8.41 crore, while only one SPSE earned a profit of Rs 0.46 crore as per their latest finalised accounts and one SPSE — Kohima Smart City Development Limited — did not finalise and submit the annual accounts for supplementary audit since its inception (March 2017). However, the profit earning SPSE did not declare any dividend during 2022-23.
As per their latest finalised accounts, the accumulated losses (Rs 81.45 crore) of two working SPSEs had completely eroded their paid-up capital of Rs 25.55 crore, which the report stated was a cause of concern. The report advised the state government to either improve or review the working of these SPSEs to decide on continuing their operations.