Taxes can’t be the only source; government has to think outside the box to earn income
Revenue generation is the most important part of government budget. In fact, ‘Where rupee comes from, where it goes’ phrase forms the crux of the budget. The state government spends most of its money on salaries and pension of government employees. In 2024-25, Goa is estimated to spend Rs 9,853 crore on committed expenditure, which is 45 per cent of its estimated revenue receipts. This comprised spending on salaries which is 23 per cent of revenue receipts and pension which is 13 per cent of revenue receipts. Furthermore, the budgetary outlay for 2025-26 is Rs 28,162 crore, of which Rs 20,299 crore will go towards salaries and loan repayment. Hence the government literally needs to perform some magic trick in order to ‘earn’ money because it cannot impose taxes on many of the taxable items, for they are under the purview of the central government.
Many a time, the state government is forced to compromise on various factors for generating revenue. Permitting casinos in the state is one such compromise. The government had constructed a cinema house in the vicinity of the Campal area way back in 2004, when the Centre decided to organise the annual International Film Festival of India in the city. However, as running a theatre is not among the tasks performed by the government, the same was handed over to a professional company through tendering process. The latest contract will allow the selected company to run the theatre for 12 years, while paying a monthly rental of Rs 54 lakh to the government.
A similar decision recently taken by the state cabinet will now allow a private player – Dome Entertainment Pvt Ltd – to operate and manage Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium at Taleigao for an initial period of 10 years, with this agency paying Rs 25 lakh as a monthly licence fee to the government. However, the government while reaching the decision may not have taken many of the related aspects into consideration.
The large sports stadium was inaugurated in 2014 for the Lusofonia Games held in Goa, the same year. Although the stadium was used for sport events related to games like volleyball and basketball, soon the inaugural as well as closing ceremonies of the International Film Festival of India were shifted to this venue. The stadium was then hired out for exhibitions as also weddings. In fact, it would be interesting to find the number of non-sporting events held in this stadium and then compare them with the number of sport tournaments organised in the same place.
It is therefore no wonder that the recent handing over of the Rs 80-crore stadium constructed in the Goa University campus – the stadium was meant to operate on a revenue-sharing basis with university – received strong opposition from the Goa University Teachers’ Association (GUTA). The senior faculty members of the university have maintained that the particular decision will lead to disturbance and safety issues on the campus. They further maintained that the future mega entertainment events at the stadium are likely to cause high decibel noise impact, which will disturb the students and residents of the campus. The GUTA has requested the government to reconsider its decision and retain the ownership of the campus with Goa University and operation of the indoor stadium with Sports Authority of Goa (SAG).
Income is an important financial aspect linked to the administration. The government however needs to study the pros and cons of its decisions related to revenue generation and consider the repercussions. That would be in the interest of Goa and Goans.
