By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, April 11, 2017 : Odisha government’s state plan expenditure registered a growth of 8.19 per cent during 2016-17 fiscal compared to the previous year.

Chief Secretary A P Padhi on Tuesday said the total state plan expenditure in 2016-17 was around Rs 43,896 crore against the expenditure of Rs 40,572 crore during the 2015-16 fiscal.

The utilization in agriculture and allied sector was around 92 per cent of the total budget estimate of Rs 11,943 crore in 2016-17, he said adding the infrastructure spending also crossed 90 per cent of the total budget estimate of Rs 13,938 crore during the same period.

Social sector spending followed the similar pattern with total expenditure of around Rs 17,559 crore by end of March, 2017.

The revenue collection from own tax resource touched Rs 22,802 crore against the total own tax collection of Rs 22,526 crore during 2015-16 fiscal. The revenue collection from non-tax revenue touched Rs 30,2328 crore, he said.

Padhi asked the secretaries of different departments to ensure hassle free and timely delivery of various public services needed by people at service delivery points.

The essence of good governance lies in qualitative delivery of services. The people have greater confidence in the system when they get timely and appropriate service as per their entitlement without facing many hurdles, he added.