PUDUCHERRY: The Puducherry government has announced a Rs 300 LPG subsidy for all family cardholders and Rs 50,000 fixed deposit scheme for newborn female babies, among a slew of schemes, in the Rs 11,600 crore budgetary estimate presented by Chief Minister N Rangasamy on Monday.
The LPG subsidy will be for 12 cylinders in a year and will incur the government Rs 126 crore. Under the Chief Minister’s Female Child Protection Scheme, Rs 50,000 will be deposited as a fixed deposit in a nationalised bank for a term of 18 years for newborn girl children. Rangasamy also announced extending the breakfast and midday meal scheme in schools to all government industrial training institutes.
The budget estimates revenue of Rs 6,154.54 crore through taxes and central government assistance of Rs 3,117.77 crore and Rs 620 crore through Centre sponsored schemes. The deficit of Rs 1,707.69 crore will be mobilized through loans. The budget has allocated Rs 9,976 crore for revenue expenditure and Rs 1,623.64 crore for capital expenditure.
For the empowerment of women and gender equality, funds to the tune of Rs 1,332 crore has been earmarked, while to cater to the growth of youths, Rs 504 crore has been earmarked. The government has also proposed to provide 1% subsidy on land, buildings and machinery each year, for a period of five years from the date of establishment of industry. Besides, for the welfare of traders, the government has proposed to allot Rs 2 crore to the Puducherry Traders Welfare Association.
The UT government has also decided to bear the premium for all red card holders to implement Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, a central government accident insurance scheme for the poor. Puducherry government’s flagship Perunthalaivar Kamaraj Centenary Housing scheme will be revived again as a housing subsidy of Rs 3.5 lakh will be given to families who have not availed benefits under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). For SC/ST, the subsidy provided will be Rs 5 lakh.
The government has also proposed to notify the Revised Industrial Policy 2023 with attractive incentives apart from deciding to set up an IT Park in Puducherry with the assistance of the Software Technology Park of India. Mega Tourism projects on 100 acres of land at Manapet including theme parks, resorts, convention centres and adventure sports in PPP mode have also been planned.
Budget highlights
Deficit Rs 1,707.69 crore
Budget allocation: Rs 11,600 crore