Industry Odisha Bureau, April 1: Odisha’s economy recorded moderate growth of 11.40 per cent in FY 2024-25 compared to previous year, the CAG said in one of its latest report on State Finance. The Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) at current prices grew at a compound annual growth rate of 13.30 per cent from Rs 5,40,185 crore in 2020-21 to Rs 8,90,038 crore in 2024-25, the CAG said.
During the year 2024-25, the State recorded a Revenue Surplus of Rs 22,651 crore (2.54 per cent of GSDP). The Fiscal Deficit of the State was Rs 25,042 crore (2.81 per cent of GSDP), which was well within the stipulated ceiling of 3 per cent of GSDP, the report said.
Total liabilities stood at 15.48 per cent of GSDP in 2024-25, significantly below the prescribed limit of 25 per cent, it said. “Overall, the State’s fiscal position remained stable with controlled deficits, manageable debt and sustained Revenue Surplus,” it said.
However, the risk of fiscal stress due to under-realisation of revenue receipts, low own-tax mobilisation, poor collection of dividends, long outstanding loans, concentrated short to medium term repayment obligations, etc. could constrain the State’s capacity for developmental and Capital spending, if left unaddressed.
The revenue receipts (Rs 1,83,963 crore) grew by 2.43 per cent in 2024-25, with revenue buoyancy and State’s own revenue buoyancy declining to 0.21 and 0.02 respectively, despite higher union tax devolution and GSDP growth exceeding 11 per cent in the last two years.
The audit further said that the State generated higher Own Tax Revenue (Rs 56,516 crore) in absolute terms, compared to previous year (Rs 54,427 crore) but could not keep pace with the GSDP growth of 11.40 per cent.
Further, Non-Tax Revenue (Rs 51,221 crore) also decreased by Rs 1,790 crore over the previous year (Rs 53,011 crore) and consequently its share in GSDP (5.75 per cent) declined.
During FYs 2020-21 to 2024-25, the revenue expenditure exceeded 82 per cent of revenue receipts (except in 2021-22), reaching 87.69 per cent in 2024-25, indicating that most receipts were absorbed by routine spending. However, committed expenditure declined from 39 per cent of revenue receipts in 2020-21 to 32 per cent of revenue receipts in 2024-25, creating some fiscal space for developmental expenditure.
Similarly, the Capital Expenditure of the State was Rs 45,481 crore during the FY 2024-25. The share of Capital Expenditure showed positive shift towards asset creation and developmental spending from 16 per cent of total expenditure in 2020-21 to 22 per cent in 2024-25.
As of March 2025, overall outstanding liability of the State stood at Rs 1,37,784 crore. There was decline in the Debt-GSDP ratio from 22.02 per cent in 2020-21 to 15.48 per cent in 2024-25.
The interest payments relative to revenue fell from 6.36 per cent to 2.87 per cent during the period, aided by higher revenue receipts and lower effective interest rates. However, absolute interest obligations remained substantial, the report said.
During FY 2024-25, against the total budget provision of Rs 2,87,770 crore, the State incurred an expenditure of Rs 2,31,613 crore, resulting in an overall savings of Rs 56,157 crore (19.50 per cent).
