MUMBAI: Chief Minister and Finance Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday presented Maharashtra’s Rs 7,69,467 crore annual budget with a fiscal deficit of 2.7 per cent in the Assembly.
Devendra Fadnavis is the third Chief Minister who, as finance minister, has presented the state’s annual budget in history. Earlier, the first CM of Maharashtra, Yashwantrao Chavana, and later Vasantrao Naik, presented the state budget as the CM and finance minister.
CM Fadnavis said his annual budget is not only a development roadmap for the year but also Maharashtra’s vision document to turn the state’s economy into a five trillion dollar economy by 2047. He said his budget is based on four thematic pillars that are progressive, eternal, comprehensive, and promote good governance.
"The state agriculture GDP has been set to increase from 55 billion dollars to 500 billion dollars by 2047. The use of Artificial Intelligence has started in the agriculture sector, and as of today, more than 30 lakh farmers are receiving accurate information and crop advice through the state AI platform. Maharashtra is also the leading state across India in providing IDs to farmers, and to date, 1.31 crore farmers have received the farmer ID. These IDs will be used to extend the benefits of various government schemes and projects," Fadnavis said, adding that AI and technology aim to reduce production costs while increasing agricultural output.
He said Maharashtra currently has only 18 per cent green cover against the ideal 33 per cent. "To increase green cover, we have decided to plant 300 crore trees across the state in the next seven years. The plantation drive will start this year, ahead of the monsoon. This will help reduce pollution and improve air quality," he added.
Fadnavis said the budget plans to increase investment in capital expenditure, as it will drive real development. This year, Rs 90,000 crore was spent on capital expenditure, while the proposal for the coming year is Rs 1.30 lakh crore -- a nearly 21 per cent rise.
He said the state aims to increase industrial sector income from 123 billion dollars to 1,500 billion dollars by 2047. "We want the share of industry and service sectors in state growth to be at least 30 per cent by 2047. Maharashtra is already top in FDI investment. The service sector domestic product will grow from 312 billion dollars to 3,000 billion dollars, generating four lakh skilled jobs," he added.
Fadnavis said the state aims to boost tourism from 16 crore visitors to 38 crore by 2047. "We are investing heavily in logistics and transport. After developing Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, we are focusing on the third in Raigad and the fourth in Palghar, which will attract huge investments and jobs. We have tied up with foreign universities and allocated 100 acres to develop an international campus with state-of-the-art facilities. Students from Maharashtra and India will get world-class education at reasonable costs," he added.
He also noted that urbanisation is accelerating and by 2047, 70 per cent of the population will live in cities, contributing 70-80 per cent to the state GDP. "The Mumbai Metropolitan economy will grow from 140 billion dollars to 3,000 billion dollars," he said.
Fadnavis added that, keeping this urbanisation trend in mind, the administration plans to expand urban infrastructure and introduce large-scale digital systems to improve civic services management.
The state also decided to focus on major slum redevelopment and affordable housing. "Housing remains a key focus in the government’s development strategy. The Slum Rehabilitation Authority has been tasked with redeveloping around 20 lakh slum homes.
Additionally, the government plans to construct around 10 lakh affordable houses, providing better living conditions and organised urban housing. To prevent new slums in Mumbai, a ‘No New Slum Framework’ using GIS-based technology will monitor land use and urban development more effectively," he added.