Maharashtra’s Mahayuti government on Friday presented an eye-popping Rs 612,293 crore (around $73 billion) budget, which is more than Pakistan’s $67.84 billion and Bangladesh’s $68 billion for the fiscal year 2024-25. Deputy chief minister and Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar, who also holds the finance portfolio in the state, presented the interim budget in the assembly’s ongoing monsoon session. This is the last legislative session before the state assembly polls, which will be in the next four months.

The ruling alliance of Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiv Sena, and NCP, which faced unflattering results in the recent Lok Sabha elections, went all out to appease key sections of the state’s population through budgetary allocations. Pawar, for instance, announced the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin scheme for women as well as a bonus, crop insurance, and electricity bill waivers for farmers. He also slashed the tax on petrol and diesel in Mumbai, Thane, and Navi Mumbai from 24% to 21%.

For women

Based on neighbouring BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh’s popular Ladli Behna Yojana, under the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin scheme, eligible women in the age group of 21 to 60 will get an allowance of Rs 1,500 per month from the state government. The interim budget allocated Rs 46,000 crore per year for the plan.

The state government has also made it mandatory for those born after May 2024 to add their mothers’ names to all official government documents in a bid to empower women.

Also, under the Pink E-Rickshaw scheme, 10,000 women from 17 cities will be financed to buy these vehicles. For this, the government has made a provision of Rs 80 crore.

It has also increased the subsidy from Rs 10,000 to Rs 25,000 for the Shubhamangal Samuhik Nondanikrut Vivah scheme (mass marriages) for women.

The government has also provided big relief, particularly to women of the state by providing three free gas cylinders to eligible households under the Mukhyamantri Annapurna Yojana. A total of 52,16,412 families are expected to benefit from this.

Ajit Pawar also announced that girls from backward and economically weaker classes will get 100% reimbursement of education and examination fees up to Rs 8 lakh. The government feels that this decision will benefit 2,05,499 girls with a provision of about Rs 2,000 crore.

Farmers in focus

The Mahayuti suffered setbacks in rural Maharashtra during the Lok Sabha polls. With a large section of farmers not being happy with the state government’s policies, many top leaders of the ruling alliance faced defeat. Keeping that in mind, the state government has made significant allocations for the agricultural community. Now farmers from the state will get crop insurance for just Re 1. The state government also fulfilled a long-pending demand of many farmers and farm associations, that the system for e-panchanama should be implemented to help conduct panchanamas quickly and help farmers get compensation within a short time.

Under the Mahatma Jotirao Phule Shetkari Karjmukti Yojana, 14.33 lakh farmers who regularly repaid their crop loans have been paid Rs 5,190 crore as an incentive amount, with the rest of the amount to be distributed expeditiously. The second phase of the Nanaji Deshmukh Agricultural Sanjeevani Project, worth Rs 6,000 crore, will be implemented in 21 districts. The Balasaheb Thackeray Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project approved 767 sub-projects worth Rs 1,561.64 crore, benefiting about 9 lakh farmers. The state government also announced a new scheme called Gaon Tethe Godam (godown in every village). In the first phase, the construction of 100 new godowns and the repair of existing ones will be undertaken.

Onion farmers of Maharashtra, who were not happy with the export policy of the Centre and didn’t vote in favour of the Mahayuti in the general elections, have been somewhat pacified by the announcement of a subsidy. An amount of Rs 851.66 crore at a rate of Rs 350 per quintal for the year 2023-24 has been allocated, and a revolving fund of Rs 200 crore each is being created for the assured purchase of onion and cotton.

The state government also announced the launch of a new scheme, Dairy Business Entrepreneurship Project, to create new entrepreneurs in the fields of animal husbandry, dairy farming, animal fodder, and animal feed production. The state has also been running a special campaign to complete irrigation projects. By the end of this financial year, 61 projects are expected to be completed, creating an irrigation potential of 3.65 lakh hectares.

Under the Maharashtra Irrigation Improvement Programme, the state government aims to improve the canal distribution systems of 155 projects, benefiting about 4.28 lakh hectares of area from direct irrigation. The state government intends to make all government irrigation schemes solarised, including the Janai-Shirsai and Purandar lift irrigation schemes, to achieve the goal of clean and green energy at an expected cost of Rs 4,200 crore.

Youth and employment

The state government has also announced various schemes for the youth of the state. Under the Mukhya Mantri Yuva Karyaprashikshan Yojana, training will be given to 10 lakh youths every year, who will also receive a stipend of up to Rs 10,000 per month from the government. For this, the state government will bear an expenditure of Rs 10,000 crore annually.

Every year, 50,000 youths will be trained to disseminate information about government schemes to the people, with a Rs 100 crore fund allocated for financial assistance to self-employment.

Fuel tax cut

In the municipal areas of Brihanmumbai, Thane, and Navi Mumbai, the tax on diesel has been reduced from 24% to 21%. Also, the tax on petrol is down from from 26% + 5.12 rupees per litre to 25% + 5.12 rupees per litre. This provides relief to common citizens as well as industry and trade.

Due to this proposal, the price of petrol per litre in the municipal areas of Thane, Brihanmumbai, and Navi Mumbai will be cheaper by approximately 65 paise per litre and that of diesel by approximately Rs 2.07 per litre.

Exemption for paramilitary forces

The state government also announced an exemption from professional tax for five Central Armed Forces: Assam Rifles, Central Industrial Security Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, National Security Guard, and Sashastra Seema Bal. The government believes this will benefit approximately twelve thousand soldiers.

MSME push

An India Gems and Jewellery Park will be set up on 25 acres of land at Mahape in Navi Mumbai. It will include 2,000 micro, small, and medium enterprises with an investment of Rs 50,000 crore, which will generate one lakh jobs. An integrated and sustainable textile policy for 2023-2028 has been announced, envisaging a substantial investment of Rs 25,000 crore and generating 5 lakh jobs in the next five years.

The Captive Market Scheme will generate large-scale employment in the spinning, loom, processing, packing, and transportation sectors. The government has decided to set up small-scale textile industry complexes and technical textile parks to increase private investment.

A scuba diving centre of international stature will be set up in the Sindhudurg district, which will have coral sighting on a sunken ship as a special attraction. The project is expected to cost Rs 20 crore and will provide employment to 800 local people.

Infra boost

In this budget, Ajit Pawar also focused on big-ticket infrastructure projects. Metro lines of 449 km have been sanctioned in Mumbai, Pune, and Nagpur, out of which 127 km is operational. Another 37 km of metro lines will be made operational in this financial year. The work of the Shivdi-Worli link road under the Shivdi-Nhava Sheva Project is 57% complete and is expected to be completed by the end of December 2025. The proposed Thane coastal road from Balkum to Gaymukh, with a length of 13.45 km, costing Rs 3,364 crore, is expected to be completed by May 2028. The work of the Dharmaveer Swaraj Rakshak Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj Mumbai Coastal Road is almost complete and both lanes are partially opened for traffic.

The PM E-Bus Seva Scheme will be implemented in 19 municipal corporations to improve transport services and reduce air pollution. The scheme includes providing electric buses, constructing bus shelters, and charging infrastructure. A proposal has been sent to UNESCO to get World Heritage nomination for 12 forts of the Shiva period. Proposals will also be sent for Katal Shilpe in Konkan, Pandharpur Vari, Dahihandi Utsav, and Ganeshotsav. The government has decided to celebrate the Shivarajyabhishek ceremony at Raigad fort every year and necessary funds will be provided for it. A submarine project of international stature will be developed at Vengurla, Sindhudurg district, at an estimated cost of Rs 66 crore. An integrated tourism development plan worth Rs 381.56 crore has been approved for the development of tourist spots in the Western Ghat area of Satara district. This includes Sri Kshetra Mahabaleshwar development, Pratapgad fort conservation, Sahyadri tiger tourism, and Koyna Helwak forest Tourism.

An outlay of Rs 18,165 crore has been proposed under the district annual plan for the year 2024-25. This outlay is 20 per cent more than the previous year. An outlay of Rs.1.92 Lakh crore has been proposed under the Scheme expenditure in the Annual Plan 2024-25. It includes an outlay of Rs 15,893 crore for the Scheduled Caste Plan and Rs 15,360 crore for the Tribal Development Sub Plan. An outlay of Rs 6,12,293 crore is proposed for the total expenditure in the year 2024-25. The revenue receipts are proposed as Rs 4,99,463 crore and the revenue expenditure as Rs 5,19,514 crore. The revenue deficit is estimated at Rs 20,051 crore. The government has been successful in keeping the state’s fiscal deficit and revenue deficit within the limits set by the Fiscal Responsibility and Fiscal Management Act. The fiscal deficit for the year 2024-25 is Rs 1,10,355 crore.