Kerala pegs annual Plan at ₹27,686 cr

The State government approved on Tuesday the annual Plan for 2015-16 at ₹27686.32 crore, which is 16.66 per cent higher by than the previous year.

It includes a State Plan of ₹20,000 crore and an anticipated Central share of ₹7686.32 crore, according to KC Joseph, Minister for Planning and Rural Development.

The final figure could change since there is no word yet on Plan allocation from the Centre. Normally, the Central allocations are announced in January/February, the Minister said.

Neither has the NITI Ayog come out with its position on the recommendations made by the 14th Finance Commission. This has contributed to its own element of uncertainty with respect to the plan size.

Major projects for which an investment of up to ₹2,000 crore is proposed next year include the Vizhinjam international transhipment terminal; Kochi Metro; Kannur international airport; expansion of Cochin international airport; Thiruvananthapuram-Kozhikode mass rapid transport system; an industrial development zone; suburban rail corridor; capital zone development in Thiruvananthapuram; and Alappuzha-Kollam bypass.

The annual plan for 2015-16 accords priority to the following sectors in that order: agriculture, education, public works, ports and lighthouses, scientific research and development, inland transport, roads and bridges, IT and e-governance, drinking water and sanitation, health and welfare, housing, tourism, SC/ST welfare, urban development, labour and labour welfare, nutrition, art and culture, and infrastructure.

A special components plan for the scheduled caste population will get a share of ₹1968.5 crore commensurate with their share (9.97 per cent) of the population.

Of this, ₹1040.92 crore will go for scheduled castes welfare and ₹927.58 crore to the local bodies (47 per cent). The share of scheduled tribes will be ₹604.5 crore, which is 34 per cent more than of last year.

Share of scheduled castes welfare will be ₹465.28 crore and local self-government bodies, ₹139.22 crore. Scheduled tribes will get an additional ₹150 crore for housing development.

An amount of ₹189.37 crore has been set apart for coastal area development and ₹113 crore for hill area development. Separately, the Wayanad, Kasaragod and Sabarimala packages will get ₹129 crore.

An integrated mission for creation of jobs will get ₹25 crore; the student police cadets scheme ₹10 crore; and linguistic minorities, ₹50 lakh. The annual Plan has also set apart ₹25 crore for drawing up specific projects under the Kerala Perspective Plan for 2030.