Bhubaneswar, Aug. 9: The mid-term fiscal plan for Orissa has projected a revenue deficit of Rs 268.44 crore for the 2006-07 financial year.

The fiscal plan was recently tabled in the Assembly by finance minister Prafulla Ghadei.

While the revenue receipts of the state have been projected at Rs 14471.7 crore, the expenditure is expected to touch Rs 14740.14 crore in the same period.

However, the plan has projected that the fiscal deficit will come down to Rs 2043.82 crore in 2007-08 from Rs 3334.66 crore in 2004-05.

The plan also projects that the value of the state’s resources would increase from Rs 4617.2 crore in 2004-05 to Rs 6071.54 crore in 2007-08. Despite the reforms, expenditure on salary, pension and interest on loans would continue to increase. Expenditure on salary payment would go up from a projected Rs 4292.29 crore in 2004-05 to Rs 4677.64 crore in 2007-08. Pension payments would also rise from Rs 1376.9 crore to Rs 1790.86 crore in the same period.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik had recently sought a special economic package of Rs 13,096 crore from the Union government to help the state tide over its fiscal crisis.

In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Naveen had pleaded that unless the Centre supplemented the Orissa government’s efforts to face the situation, it would be difficult to bring the state on a par with others.

The proposed five-year special economic package included Rs 3,778 crore to write off debts, Rs 400 crore for interest relief on debt and Rs 830 crore as compensation for loss in royalty for coal and other minerals due to delay in revision of rates.

The other aspect of the proposed package was special Central assistance worth Rs 7,869 crore for intensive sectoral interventions in horticulture, fisheries, forestry, irrigation, road and tourism infrastructure.

Over the past four years Naveen had repeatedly pleaded for special category status for Orissa, moratorium on the repayment of loans and debt waiver.