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Thackeray govt’s first budget focusses on farmers, tries to please all

Hindustan Times, Mumbai | By
Mar 06, 2020 03:22 PM IST

Maharashtra’s finance minister Ajit Pawar, who presented the budget, announced Rs 22,000 crore for farmers under the Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Loan waiver scheme.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra on Friday tabled its first budget worth Rs 4.34 lakh crore in the state legislature, which aims at pleasing all its core constituencies especially the farmers.

Maharashtra’s finance minister Ajit Pawar, who presented the budget, announced Rs 22,000 crore for farmers under the Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Loan waiver scheme.

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The scheme has now been expanded to include agriculturists with outstanding loans of more than Rs 200,000 and an incentive of Rs 50,000 for those who repay them on time.

The state government has also envisaged an employment generation scheme for the educated unemployed, which will help train those between 21 to 28 years of age. It also plans to pay a stipend to these youngsters.

The overall budget of the scheme is Rs 6000 crore and it plans to train 10 lakh youth in five years. Pawar also announced a special law to ensure priority to locals in jobs.

By announcing sops for farmers and unemployed youth, the MVA government has delivered on the two core promises made in its manifestos ahead of the state assembly polls.

Thackeray’s pet scheme of offering subsidised food to the poor, the Rs 10 thali, has been allocated Rs 150 crore for this year and will now feed 100,000 people.

For the urban middle class, the budget has some promises on one hand and pinched their pockets on the other.

Ajit Pawar announced a cut of 1% on stamp duty on all real estate deals for homebuyers in Mumbai, Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Pune and Nagpur for two years.

This will translate into a relief of Rs 100,000 for a home priced at Rs 1 crore. The state had a stamp duty of 5% and an additional surcharge of 1% on such deals.

However, the finance department has increased the price of petrol and diesel across the state by Re 1 per litre to create a Green Fund aimed at tackling climate change.

This, the finance minister said, will mop up resources worth Rs 1800 crore which will be used only for green initiatives.

There are several other feel-good measures in the budget that aims at some sop or announcement for every section of the society.

These include a special scheme to construct 1500 ideal public schools with state of the art infrastructure at Rs 5000 crore for five years, revamping for state transport buses at Rs 1600 crore, women-only police stations in every district and tourism initiatives, including a modern aquarium in Worli.

Sena minister and Yuva Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray’s tourism department has been allocated Rs 1000 crore.

“Overall, we have tried to consider every section of the society mainly farmers, youth and women. The state is witnessing economic slowdown and there are challenges in employment so we have tried to give some concession to the industry by reducing power rates and real estate industry and homebuyers by slashing the stamp duty,” said Pawar.

He admitted the loan waiver for farmers along with the seventh pay commission had burdened the state exchequer and this was expected to take the debt to Rs 5.20 lakh crore by the end of this fiscal.

The revenue deficit in 2020-21 is estimated at Rs 9510 crore, while the fiscal deficit is estimated at Rs 54,618 crore.

The revised estimates for the year 2019-20 show the strain on the state coffers.

The revenue deficit has been revised to Rs 31,443 crore from Rs 20,292 crore while the fiscal deficit has been revised to Rs 78,616 crore from Rs 61,669 crore.

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