Gandhinagar: No new taxes were proposed in Gujarat's Rs 3.32 lakh crore budget for the next fiscal presented in the Assembly on Friday as Finance Minister Kanubhai Desai announced a host of projects and schemes targeted at girls' education, women, the poor, youth and farmers. Desai presented the budget for 2024-25 in the Assembly here on the second day of the Budget Session and did not propose any new taxes.
He informed the House that the budget outlay of Rs 3,32,465 crore indicates an increase of Rs 31,444 crore, or 10.44 per cent, over the previous fiscal. Of the total outlay, nearly 2.14 lakh crore or 64.43 per cent has been allocated for developmental expenditure, while Rs 83,000 crore or 25.1 per cent would go towards non-developmental expenditure, he said.
Without giving an absolute number, Additional Chief Secretary in the Finance Department, JP Gupta, told reporters later that Gujarat's public debt stands at 15 per cent of the state's GDP (gross domestic product) of Rs 24 lakh crore, which comes to Rs 3.6 lakh crore. The state government presented a budget with an estimated surplus of 146.72 crore and proposed no new taxes.
Desai announced a host of schemes and projects and said the state kept GYAN Garib' (the poor), Yuva' (youth), Annadata' (farmer) and Nari Shakti' (women power) at the core while preparing the budget. As per the vision of the Gujarat @2047 document, the state government seeks to ensure an average per capita income for its citizens of the level enjoyed by citizens of developed countries by 2047, he said.
He said the aim is to maintain and accelerate the rate of development so that Gujarat's contribution to the national GDP is 10 per cent before 2047 and the size of the state's economy grows from the current level of $0.28 trillion to $3.5 trillion. Under the newly proposed Namo Lakshmi' scheme, girls studying in government, grant-in-aid and private schools from Classes 9 to 12 will be given Rs 50,000 over the four years of their education. A provision of Rs 1,250 crore has been made in the budget for this programme.
As per the Namo Shri' scheme, pregnant women belonging to backward and poor categories will be provided assistance of Rs 12,000 and a provision of Rs 750 crore has been made in the budget. The finance minister also announced the conversion of seven municipalities Navsari, Gandhidham, Morbi, Vapi, Anand, Mehsana and Surendranagar-Wadhwan into municipal corporations.
He announced the Jan Rakshak' scheme wherein all emergency services, including police and fire, can be accessed by dialling 112. Citizens can expect the emergency service to reach them within 10 minutes in urban areas and 30 minutes in rural areas, said Desai. To meet this objective, I announce the Jan Rakshak Scheme, under which 1,100 vehicles fitted with state-of-the-art equipment and requisite staff will be put in place in the state to improve emergency response, said the minister.
The budget also provides for the extension of the existing riverfront on Sabarmati till GIFT-City (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City) in Gandhinagar in Phases 4 and 5. Under Phase 3, a stretch of 5 km of riverfront development will shortly commence near GIFT City...Phase 4 and 5 of the riverfront will be developed from Indira Bridge to Gandhinagar. Once completed, the total length would be 38.2 km, which would make it the longest in the world, he said.
While no new taxes were proposed, the state government also gave a relief of Rs 754 crore to the citizens by way of easing some provisions of Motor Vehicle Act and stamp duty. Despite the relief, the state is left with an estimated surplus of Rs 146.72 crore for FY 2024-25, said Desai. At present, people have to pay a stamp duty of Rs 600 when they get a loan of more than Rs 5,000 from a registered cooperative credit society, he said.
Now, the government has decided to waive this stamp duty in case of members of such registered societies availing loans up to a limit of Rs 50,000. This decision will extend a relief of Rs 54 crore to around 9 lakh members of these societies, Desai announced. To motivate people to take advantage of the Vehicle Scrapping Policy', Desai said the state has decided to come up with an amnesty scheme for those who own vehicles that are more than 8 years old, he said.
If the owner sends such a vehicle for scrapping, the state government will waive all liabilities concerning motor vehicle tax, interest, penalty and any challans under due on such vehicles, said Desai. The scheme will give a relief of Rs 700 crore to nearly 52,000 vehicle owners. Referring to the Ram temple consecration, Desai informed the House that the Gujarat government has acquired land in Ayodhya to construct a Gujarat Bhawan' for providing lodging and boarding facilities to Gujarati tourists visiting the holy town.
Desai announced that a Gujarat Social Enterprise Fund' will be created to give incentives to social entrepreneurs of rural areas on the lines of venture capital being provided to the industries. For this, a provision of Rs 10 crore is made, while Rs 50 crore will be spent in the next five years.
While a provision of Rs 924 crore has been made for providing assistance under the state's Semiconductor Policy, Desai also announced allocation of Rs 56 crore to promote Advanced Drone Technology (Krishi Viman) in the agriculture sector to increase the use of Nano-Urea. Inspired by the success of the Nadabet Seema Darshan' Project in Banaskantha district near Indo-Pak land border, a provision of Rs 40 crore has been made in this budget for the development of State Coastal Seema Darshan' at Chauhan Nala and Kori Creek area near Kutch district, said Desai.
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