Maharashtra stares at Rs 19,784-crore deficit in 2019-20

Mungantiwar painted an optimistic picture of the state economy in his vote-on-account speech yesterday

Even as it wants to roll out new welfare schemes, sustain the existing ones and give its employees a hefty pay hike in an election year, the BJP-led Maharashtra government faces a stiff challenge in increasing the exchequer's overall income. The interim budget that finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar tabled on Wednesday indicated that the state is staring at an expected revenue deficit of Rs 19,784 crore in for the approaching fiscal year.

The minister's vote-on-account speech was akin to an election rally speech where he underscored budgetary allocation for farmers with stress on infrastructure development that should attract both the rural and urban masses. However, the curtailment of unnecessary expenditure and ensuring effective recovery of revenue remained a concern, as the annual interim budget of Rs 99,000 crore for 2019-20 was announced.

No new schemes
The interim budget did not announce any new schemes. They would be announced when the final budget is presented four months later in the monsoon session. This has been a practice in a year that conducts Lok Sabha polls.

Despite poor revenue projections, Mungantiwar painted an optimistic economic picture. He said the government last year managed to earn a revenue surplus in spite of spending Rs 16,000 crore on a farm loan waiver scheme. He also allied fears of rising debt that the opposition has said would make the
state bankrupt.

Notwithstanding a debt of Rs 4.44 lakh crore, the state's economy was strong enough, Mungantiwar said, because the ratio of debt to Gross Domestic Product of the state was way under the permissible limit of 25 per cent. The state's figure for this is just 14.82 per cent which is lesser than last year's.

"The budget estimates of 2018 said the total debt was expected to be R4.61 lakh crore and we were to seek a loan of Rs 54,996 crore this year, but our conscious efforts have restricted the demand to Rs 11,990 cr," said Mungantiwar, adding that the debt stock was estimated to be 16.5 per cent, but reduced below 15 per cent.

Some budget features

• Rs 3,498 cr for agriculture-related purchases
• Rs 8,733 cr for irrigation projects
• Rs 6,895 cr for the PMAY or Housing for All Scheme
• Rs 9,208 cr SC/ST schemes
• Rs 5,210 cr for electricity subsidies to farmers, industry
• Rs 6,320 cr for energy department (Rs 1,087cr for non-conventional energy)
• Rs 8,500 cr for development of roads and highways
• Rs 2,921 cr for Women and Child Welfare Department
• Rs 2,400 cr for Swacch Maharashtra and Amrut Cities scheme
• Rs 101 cr for development of state transport bus stands

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