MUMBAI: Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said on Saturday Budget 2020 presented by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman is removed from reality and has given a “step-motherly” treatment to Maharashtra and Mumbai. “It is deeply disappointing for Maharashtra. This Budget does injustice to Maharashtra and Mumbai, which are the country’s growth engine,” said Thackeray who was a BJP ally till a few months ago.
Thackeray said the Budget does not address key problems such as unemployment, and the allocation for Skill India is inadequate.
He said it does not support development of public amenities and ongoing infrastructure projects in Mumbai, such as the Metro.
“The Budget gives no momentum to the development of a railway network in the state, except for the mention of projects announced earlier, such as the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train.”
He said the scheme Sitharaman announced to develop heritage sites as “iconic sites” did not mention any from the culturally rich state. “The step-motherly treatment given to Maharashtra has become evident in the Budget. The International Financial Services Centre in Gujarat has been strengthened while Mumbai, which makes the highest contribution to the country’s growth, has been deliberately ignored,” he said.
The decision to divest stake in LIC and possible privatisation of the railways reveal the precarious state of the economy, he said. The GDP growth rate for the current financial year is 5% while the economic survey estimated 6-6.5% in 2020-21, he added. “This growth does not have the potential to achieve Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of making India a $5 trillion economy,” said Thackeray. He dismissed the claim GST gave relief to small and medium enterprises. “Small and medium enterprises have been troubled by GST. People’s purchasing power has shrunk, impacting small-scale industries. This has landed workers in trouble.”
Thackeray said the Budget does not address key problems such as unemployment, and the allocation for Skill India is inadequate.
He said it does not support development of public amenities and ongoing infrastructure projects in Mumbai, such as the Metro.
“The Budget gives no momentum to the development of a railway network in the state, except for the mention of projects announced earlier, such as the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train.”
He said the scheme Sitharaman announced to develop heritage sites as “iconic sites” did not mention any from the culturally rich state. “The step-motherly treatment given to Maharashtra has become evident in the Budget. The International Financial Services Centre in Gujarat has been strengthened while Mumbai, which makes the highest contribution to the country’s growth, has been deliberately ignored,” he said.
The decision to divest stake in LIC and possible privatisation of the railways reveal the precarious state of the economy, he said. The GDP growth rate for the current financial year is 5% while the economic survey estimated 6-6.5% in 2020-21, he added. “This growth does not have the potential to achieve Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of making India a $5 trillion economy,” said Thackeray. He dismissed the claim GST gave relief to small and medium enterprises. “Small and medium enterprises have been troubled by GST. People’s purchasing power has shrunk, impacting small-scale industries. This has landed workers in trouble.”
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