The Chief Minister and top government officials, including Chief Secretary Ravi Dhingra, who also holds the charge of Principal Secretary (Finance), have reached Delhi. More than 30 senior bureaucrats and government officials will be present in tomorrow’s meeting.

After BJP’s return to power, Dhumal had met Ahluwalia and given him the state’s tentative projections about fiscal position and growing fiscal deficit. Dhumal’s focus had been on making the state self-reliant and putting it back on the fast track to growth.

“We have inherited a bad legacy. The state’s financial position has been a matter of concern. Tomorrow’s discussions are expected to give a new direction to the government’s strategies on handling fiscal deficit,” said Dhumal.

Himachal Pradesh’s 11th five-year plan, beginning from the current financial year, has been pegged at Rs 13,778 crore and an annual plan of Rs 2,400 crore.

This means an increase of 14.3 per cent. The BJP government has been emphasising on rural infrastructure building and employment generation programmes, beside making the state self-reliant.

Last month, Dhumal had long discussions with MLAs on the plan formulation. The Chief Minister has assured to give the MLAs Rs 3 crore annually under the NABARD funding.

The government has recently got World Bank funding of Rs 1,300 crore for state highways and district road projects, beside Rs 800 crore for fiscal improvements. The government has already signed agreements with the World Bank for two projects. Efforts now are on to get similar funding for hydro-power and tourism projects.

“But to bring about long-term improvement, the government will make efforts to accelerate hydro power development and build vital infrastructure of irrigation, roads and bridges and drinking water supply,” the CM says.

The real challenge for managing fiscal deficit will be mobilising additional resources for development and infrastructure projects. Himachal’s debt burden borders almost Rs 22,000 crore, which was barely Rs 16,533 in 2005.

With the state’s budget formulation exercise being underway, Dhumal will be required to plead for additional funds under separate development projects on infrastructure.