Maharashtra or Mumbai did not find any mention in Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s maiden Budget speech on Friday. Even though no new sops were announced for the State, BJP leaders said the Budget would provide the necessary impetus for economic growth in Maharashtra.
A BJP leader said the announcement of pension for small time traders would be used as a poll plank for the State Assembly polls. Senior government officials said the likely cut in expenditure on schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna could slow down its progress in the State.
A housing department official said, “We are reading the fine print of the Budget and there appears to be a minor reduction in expenditure on some schemes. We will have see what impact this could have on the State’s implementation of these programmes.”
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the decision to invest ₹100 lakh crore in infrastructure was revolutionary. He said the Budget has given special attention to villages, farmers and the poor as two crore houses will be built in rural areas in the next two years, 1.25 lakh km of roads will be laid, and allocations have been raised for schemes aimed at women’s self-help groups and doubling the income of farmers. Mr. Fadnavis said, “The dream of rural development will now become a reality and concessions will ensure the development of industries, especially sectors like fisheries and small industries.”
Senior BJP leaders said the Budget would open doors to provide quality education and employment to youths and take the country ahead in all aspects of growth. State Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said, “The Indian economy was ranked 11th globally in 2013-14, but has reached the sixth spot in just five years under the able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The resolve to make India a hub of higher education and the idea to create new research centres will set the country on the path of growth.”