Mumbai, Mar 10 (KNN) Maharashtra’s Finance Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday tabled the Rs 5,47,450 crore worth state budget based on the principle of ‘Panchamrut’.

It has main focus on farmers, women, tribals, development of the infrastructure with substantial capital investment, employment, and eco-friendly development, reported HBL.

FM Devendra Fadnavis who is also the Deputy Chief Minister, started reading out the budgetary allocations in the Lower House of the legislature from an iPad.

While his Cabinet colleague and Shinde faction Shiv Sena leader Deepak Kesarkar read out the budget proposals in the Legislative Council.

Of the total budget, revenue receipts to the tune of Rs 4,49,522 crore in the next fiscal, the revenue expenditure is projected at Rs 4,65,522 crore, while the revenue deficit of the budget was Rs 16,112 crore, and the fiscal deficit was Rs 95,500.80 crore with a total outlay of Rs 1,72,000 crore.

During the budget presentation, he said that the Amnesty Scheme, 2023, for the Goods and Services Tax Department will be called ‘Maharashtra Settlement of Arrears of Tax, Interest, Penalty or Late Fee Act, 2023’.

“Under this scheme, there will be a complete waiver of the arrears in cases where arrears are Rs 2 lakh or less per year, as a result, small dealers will be benefited in around one lakh cases,” he said.

He said that said the outlay for farmers has been increased by Rs 6,900 crore and the coverage of the Mahatma Phule Jan Arogya scheme, a health insurance scheme of the government, has been raised from Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.

“An investment of Rs 75,000 crore is expected in the field of green hydrogen, green ammonia, solar and wind energy. Solar power projects will be set up in 20,000 Gram Panchayats,” he said.

The budget also proposes Rs 6,000 investment support to farmers and Rs 1 crop insurance scheme and also offers relief in professional tax to working women salaried up to Rs 25,000, 50 per cent concession on ticket fares to women travelling by State-run buses and ‘Lek Ladki’, a new scheme for the girl child.

He said that under the new logistics policy of Maharashtra, a logistics hub will be created on 1,000 acres of land in Nagpur and a grand gems and jewellery park in Navi Mumbai, apart from other schemes and projects.  (KNN Bureau)