Maharashtra will be the first State to have a $1-trillion economy: Pawar  

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday presented the annual State budget for 2022-23 with revenue receipts of ₹ 4,03,427 crore and revenue expenditure of ₹4,27,780 crore. Despite a revenue deficit ₹ 24,353 crore, Pawar said that Maharashtra will be the first State to have $1-trillion economy. 

Pawar announced an outlay of ₹1,15,215 crore for Panchasutri (five-point programme) including agriculture, health, human resource, transport and industry. ₹4-lakh crore will be provided for this programme in the next three years. An outlay of ₹23,888 crore is proposed for agriculture and allied sectors, ₹5,244 crore for the health sector, ₹46,667 crore for human development and human resources, ₹28,605 crore for transportation infrastructure and ₹10,111 crore for the development of the industry and energy sectors.

Agriculture: Incentive grant for farmers  

Pawar announced an incentive grant of ₹50,000 to 20 lakh farmers who repay their loans regularly will be given this year. The expected expenditure on this programme is ₹10,000 crore. This scheme was announced last year but was not implemented due to financial constraints. 

He also announced a loan waiver of the Land Development Bank of ₹964 crore for 34,788 farmers. ₹1,000 crore will be provided in three years for a special action plan for soyabean and cotton crops. The Minister also proposed an interest subvention scheme for a loan of 306 APMCs for infrastructure up-gradation and 100 per cent repayment of interest. The investment expected for this programme is ₹10,000 crore. The government has also made a provision of ₹6,952 crore for purchase of agricultural commodities at the minimum support price.

New hospitals

Level-1 Trauma Care Units of 50 beds each will be set up at Nanded, Amravati, Jalna, Bhandara, Ahmednagar and Satara. Lithotripsy treatment will be introduced in all 200-bed hospitals in the next three years. The government will also introduce a modern ‘Phaco’ treatment method for cataract surgery at government hospitals. 50-bed hospitals will be equipped with mechanical washing plants and 30-bed hospitals will have cleaning machines.

The government has also proposed the establishment of 100-bed women’s hospitals at Hingoli, Yavatmal, Buldhana, Sangli, Satara, Kolhapur, Sindhudurg, Wardha, Bhandara, Jalgaon, Ahmednagar, Dhule, Solapur, Ratnagiri, Aurangabad and Raigad.

India’s first Medicity

The government intends to establish a high-tech “Indrayani Medicity” on 300 acres near Pune. This city will have hospitals, medical research, pharmaceutical manufacturing, wellness and physiotherapy

Admission capacity for postgraduate education will be increased so that the youth of the country can get the opportunity to pursue medical education. 

Transport provisions

The government has proposed a provision of ₹7,500 crore for 10,000 km roads under Mukhyamantri Gram Sadak Yojana Phase-II. The government will also launch 6,550-km road improvement under Prime Minister’s Village Road Scheme Phase-3. ₹16,039-crore project Nashik-Pune medium high-speed railway project has been sanctioned. The government will provide capital financial assistance for 3,000 new environment-friendly buses and for modernisation of 103 bus stands to Maharashtra State Transport Corporation.

Industry development

Pawar said that about 1 lakh employment opportunities through 30,000 self-employment projects under Chief Minister Employment Generation Programme will be created. 

₹1.89 lakh-crore investment from 98 investment agreements under Magnetic Maharashtra 2.0 and 3,30,000 new employment opportunities will be created. 

Under the e-vehicle policy, by 2025, the share of electric vehicles in vehicle registration will be multiplied. 

Tax proposals: VAT on CNG reduced 

The government has proposed to reduce VAT on CNG from 13.5 per cent to 3 per cent. This will benefit public transport and consumers of piped gas

Under the VAT Amnesty Proposal – Maharashtra Settlement of Arrears of Tax, Interest, Penalty or Late Fee Scheme – 2022, the government will write-off total pending dues of ₹10,000 or less per year. The lump sum payment option will also be provided with VAT due between ₹10,000 and ₹10 lakh per year can pay only 20 per cent of the dues. For dues above ₹50 lakh, payment of a minimum 25 per cent (first instalment) is necessary before September 30, 2022. Balance three quarterly instalments could be paid in the next nine months. 

The government also announced an amnesty scheme under Stamp Duty Act which will be applicable for pending penalties. The annual budget also proposed to waiver the stamp duty of 0.1 per cent on gold-silver imported in Maharashtra 

Tax revenue is expected to go up by 11.8 per cent in the financial year 2023 to ₹3.08-lakh crore as compared to revised estimates of the financial year 2022. 

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