Tamilnadu Budget 2022 – highlights

• The revenue deficit has been brought down by ₹ 7,000 crores from 4.61 per cent to 3.80 per cent.
• The revenue deficit which has been going up in an alarming trend since 2014 will be reversed this year.
• The revised budget estimate had pegged the revenue deficit at ₹58,692.68 crores for 2021-22.
• Tamil Nadu's outstanding debt as of 31st March 2023 will be ₹6,53,348.73 crore.
• This constitutes 26.29% of Gross State Domestic Product in 2022-23.
• The fiscal deficit also will see a reduction from 4.61 per cent last year to 3.8 per cent.
• For the third consecutive year, the school education department has been accorded the highest allocation in the State Budget, at Rs 36,895.89 crore.

Important initiatives

• The earlier ‘Thalikku Thangam’ scheme, which provided gold and financial assistance for women’s marriages, has been reshaped into a higher education assurance scheme.
• ₹5 crores have been allocated to translate Periyar’s writings and works in other languages.
• To provide quality mental health services, the government has planned to establish a Tamil Nadu Institute of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences, by upgrading the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), Kilpauk, Chennai.
• The New museums will be built this year in Villupuram and Ramanathapuram districts at an estimated cost of ₹10 crores.
• It has decided to set up a Children's Nature Park to house birds, butterflies and animals by remodelling the Guindy Children's Park.
• The State government has allocated ₹10 crores towards upgrading the disaster early warning system in Chennai.
• This is the first such initiative set up by the state government in India.
• To motivate government school students to aspire to join premier higher education institutions like IIT, IISC & AIIMS, the Tamil Nadu government will bear the full cost of undergraduate education of students who studied in government schools from classes 6-12.
• The Tamil Nadu government will revive and implement the Maduravoyal - Chennai Port Elevated Corridor Project.
• The Special Social Media Monitoring Cells would be set up in the state.
• It is to battle fake news and misinformation on social media platforms
• In order to commemorate the 200th birth anniversary of a famous Tamil saint and poet Ramalinga Adigal, or Vallalar, the government will launch ‘Vallalar Palluyir Kappagangal’ scheme, that will help NGOs take care of abandoned animals.
• The tribal on-site museum at Courtallam in Tenkasi district, the pre-historic on-site museum at Poondi in Tiruvallur district and the Hero-Stone on-site museum in Dharmapuri district will be upgraded.
• Under the 'Climate-Friendly Modernisation of Buses in Major Cities of Tamil Nadu' Project being implemented with Germany’s KfW bank assistance, 2,213 BS-VI new diesel buses and 500 new electric buses will be procured.

MSME sector

• It has hiked the allocation for Micro, Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (MSMEs) Department by almost 48%.
• With a view of helping micro enterprises’ clusters, it would launch a new “Micro Cluster Development Programme”.
• The Budget has announced an allocation of ₹50 crores for the development of 20 microclusters, including artificial jewellery making by Narikuruvars in Kancheepuram district, toy cluster in Madurai district, the cookware cluster in Tirunelveli district and cashew processing cluster in Cuddalore district.
• Tamil Nadu Coir Business Development Corporation will be set up in Coimbatore.
• The government would set up new industrial parks in Coimbatore, Perambalur, Madurai, Vellore and Tiruvallur districts to promote widespread industrial development.
• For the manufacturing of electronic products, two exclusive clusters will be established at Pillaipakkam and Manallur.
• In order to ease traffic movement and to regulate the parking of heavy vehicles, Truck Terminal Facilities at Cheyyar and Gummidipoondi will be constructed.
• Reserving 5% of all government divisible procurement for Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe entrepreneurs is another significant initiative.