Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma Sunday claimed that the state is on the growth trajectory after acheiving considerable financial stability during 2022.
It is for the first time that the state is not dependent on the Centre for payment of salaries of its employees, which has been possible due to increased oil royalty, excise, transport and GST collections, he said at an interaction with journalists here.
Of the Rs 2500 crore received from the Centre, Rs 900 crore is being used for payment of pension and the remaining for development works in the state, he said.
''There has been an increase in tax collection and this symbolises vibrancy in the economy. This has been possible due to the cooperation by the people and different organisations, leading to a new growth trajectory,'' he said.
The decline in agitations in Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Golaghat and Jorhat districts has led to an increase in oil royalty by over Rs 1500 crore with a record Rs 3178 crore collected so far in the current financial year as against Rs 2538 crore in 2020-21, Sarma said.
The state's GDP growth at 13 per cent is also an increase as against the previous year's 12.66 per cent.
In the case of Externally Aided Projects many new ones worth Rs 40,000 crore have been undertaken. ''We are very grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharam for this''.
Sarma said that the World Bank and Asian Development Bank will fund the projects and those worth Rs 28,000 crore are already on, while those involving another Rs 12,000 crore are in the pipeline. The Centre will return the loans and the state will get a direct benefit.
The state also achieved a major milestone in wildlife with not a single one-horned rhinoceros killed by poachers in any of its forests during the last year. "Perhaps this has happened after 25 years'', the chief minister said.
Regarding climate change, Sarma said Assam is not contributing much to global warming as it does not have too many factories though attempts are being made to generate 3000 MW of solar power within the next three years.
Besides, the state is following the COP-22 mandate along with the rest of the country, Sarma added.