Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2021 on February 1 with a special focus on at least four poll-bound states.
Sitharaman announced road infrastructure projects for West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, going to polls in a few months. Infra push apart, the FM also announced a welfare scheme for tea workers in Assam and West Bengal.
In her speech, Sitharaman announced a 3,500 km corridor highway in Tamil Nadu to come up at the cost of Rs 1.03 lakh. The work, that starts next year, includes the Madurai-Kollam corridor, and Chittoor-Thatchur corridor.
Follow Moneycontrol's Budget 2021 live coverage here.
The FM also announced 1,100 km in Kerala at a cost of Rs 65,000 crore. This includes a 600 km-long section of the Mumbai-Kanyakumari corridor. She also announced a 675 km-long highway project in West Bengal at a cost of Rs 25,000 crore. This includes the up-gradation of roads connecting Kolkata with Siliguri.
Assembly elections in these states are crucial for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). While the party hopes to come to power in West Bengal, it wants to retain Assam. It is in power in an alliance with the ruling AIADMK, in Tamil Nadu. In Kerala, BJP has failed to make any major electoral gains, yet.
Sitharaman announced a 1,300 km-long highway at the cost of Rs 34,000 will come up in Assam in the next three years. She said that national highway works of Rs 19,000 crore were currently in progress in the state of Assam.
She also made announcements for Kochi metro railway phase 2 in Kerala and Chennai Metro phase 2 in Tamil Nadu in her speech.
To read full text of union Budget 2021 click here