The Indian State of Uttar Pradesh has emerged as the second-largest state in terms of number of Income Tax Return (ITR) filers in 2023, according to a bulletin issued by the Reserve Bank of India.
According to the RBI report, the number of ITRs filed has shot up from 1.65 lakhs in June 2014 to 11.92 lakhs in June 2023.
Similarly, as per the RBI’s August 2023 bulletin, Uttar Pradesh tops in the country with a share of 16.2 per cent investment in terms of attracting funds from banks and other financial institutions.
The RBI report states that UP has registered a 16.2 per cent increase in raising funds from banks and other financial institutions in 2022-23, a 15-fold increase from 1.1 per cent in the financial year 2013-14.
Yogi Adityanath’s Efforts
Amid Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s efforts to make Uttar Pradesh a one trillion-dollar economy state, the planned and coordinated works have led to a continuous increase in the annual income of the state.
The GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product), which was Rs 16,45,317 crore in the financial year 2020-21, has increased by about 20 per cent to Rs 19,74,532 crore in 2021-22. Besides, the state’s income for 2022-23 has been estimated at Rs 21.91 lakh crore on the basis of advance estimates, as per a government release.
As per the release, despite the economic recession witnessed across the world and within the country for about three years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Uttar Pradesh’s economy has been able to maintain its growth trajectory.
The efforts being made by the Yogi government to eradicate poverty and increase the income of the poor through various schemes have yielded pleasant results.
NITI Aayog Report Details
According to NITI Aayog’s report ‘National Multidimensional Poverty Index: A Progress Review 2023’, between 2015-16 and 2019-21, while a record 135 million people in India have moved out of multidimensional poverty, Uttar Pradesh has recorded the highest decline in the number of poor people in the country.
The report further stated that due to the meaningful efforts of the government, 3.43 crore people have been able to come out of multidimensional poverty in Uttar Pradesh.
Providing multidimensional poverty estimates for 36 states, union territories and 707 administrative districts, the report said the most extensive decline in the proportion of multidimensional poor was recorded in Uttar Pradesh. The report said that states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan come after UP.
Historical Revenue Status
Uttar Pradesh, once known as Bimaru, has now become a revenue-surplus state. According to a government release, in the year 2016-17, the tax revenue of the state was about Rs 86 thousand crore, which increased to more than Rs 01.47 lakh crore in the year 2021-22, witnessing an increase of 71 per cent.
The sales tax/VAT in 2016-17 was around Rs 51,883 crore, which has crossed Rs 125 crore in 2022-23. Further, the release mentioned that the petrol, diesel and ATF VAT rates in Uttar Pradesh are lower than in many states, and there is no change in the rates after May 2022.
Achievements of Yogi Government
With its strong financial management, the Yogi Government has also succeeded in keeping the fiscal deficit at 3.96 per cent against 4.0 per cent in the year 2022-23 FRBM Act. Statistics reveal that earlier in UP, about 8 per cent of the budget was spent on repaying the interest of loans, which has come down to 6.5per cent in the year 2022-23.
The release further highlighted that the government’s efforts are directed towards improving governance, expediting business decisions, increasing ease of business, and smoothly implementing existing rules.
As the most important sectors in the state are agriculture, industry and services, the Government’s focus is on strengthening these sectors first. For this, some high-level committees have been constituted, which give suggestions to the government from time to time for further improvement, the release said.
Discussion on Yogi’s Policies
A discussion was held at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi recently on the policies of the Yogi Government, which is creating new paradigms of economic upliftment in Uttar Pradesh. Addressing the program, the President of Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts, Prof Ram Bahadur Rai, agreed that Yogi Adityanath had removed the Bimaru state tag from UP.
According to Rai, a better investment environment has been created in UP today, and all-round development is taking place in the state under the leadership of CM Yogi. This is the reason why the UP CM is getting full support from the public even in his second term; he pointed out.
He said that CM Yogi is bringing about development which former UP Chief Minister Sampurnanand had talked about in his book.
