Chhattisgarh: Assembly submits Rs 1.47 lakh budget; no new taxes proposed

Chhattisgarh Finance Minister OP Choudhary on Friday presented the Rs 147,446-crore budget for 2024-25 in the state Assembly and said the budget focuses on prosperity of “gareeb, yuva, annadata and naari” or GYAN and stimulating infrastructure increase. The Bharatiya Janata Party government led by Vishnu Deo Sai, which was sworn in in December, announced no new taxes in its first budget.

He also announced that a document titled “Amritkaal: Vision for Chhattisgarh@2047” will be submitted to the people on November 1 this year with the aim of transforming the state from a developing country to a developed country.

Referring to the document ‘Amritkaal: Chhattisgarh Vision @ 2047’, he said the first medium-term target to achieve the vision is to double the GDP in the next five years from Rs 50 crore to 2028 100 crore, he said.

“The budget focuses on the economic development of GYAN, gareeb (poor), yuva (youth), annadata (farmers) and naari (women), stimulating infrastructure growth through increased capital expenditure, and promoting youth employment and livelihoods,” he said. He added that the budget is an important step towards fulfilling the (pre-poll) promises made under the “Modi Assurance”.

“In the last five years, the previous (Congress) government had done injustice to Garib, Yuva, Annadatta and Nali. It not only deprived the poor of their right to a roof but also carried out fertilizer Black marketing, buying cow dung at Rs 2 per kg and forcibly selling low-quality vermicompost (made from cow dung) at Rs 10 per kg,” he said. The minister claimed that the previous government promised to provide Rs 500 to women but failed to deliver.

He said an allocation of Rs 500 crore has been provided under the Deendayal Upadhyay Bhoomiheen Krishi Majdoor Yojana, which will provide an annual assistance of Rs 10,000 to landless laborers, up from Rs 7,000 last year.

The minister said that Rs 8,369 crore has been allocated in the budget for construction of 18 lakh houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Rs 10,000 crore under Krishak Unnati Yojana to strengthen small and medium farmers and Rs 450 crore for Jal Jeevan Mission. Crores of Rs.

“An allocation of Rs 3,000 crore has been provided for Mahtari Vandan Yojana to help women in the state become self-reliant (of which married women will get Rs 1,000 per month). An initiative has been proposed for citizens of Shri Ram Lalla Darshan (Visit Ayodha Dham), The budget amount is Rs 35 crore,” the minister said. Implementation of the Chhattisgarh Higher Education Mission Plan will strengthen the provisions of the National Education Policy, he added.

“The State Capital Region (SCR) will be established covering the cities of Raipur and Bhilai. A climate action plan will also be prepared to reduce carbon emissions, besides encouraging solar rooftops, electric vehicles, adoption of Kusum Yojna, etc.,” Chaudhry said, An amount of Rs 5 crore has been allocated in the budget for organizing the ‘Invest in Chhattisgarh’ campaign.

“There are no tax proposals for 2024-25, and there will be no increase in existing tax rates. As a result of aggressive efforts, the state’s own revenue is expected to increase by 22% without imposing new taxes or increasing tax rates.”

In 2024-25, the state’s gross fiscal deficit is expected to be Rs 19,696 crore (including the federal government’s special assistance for capital expenditure of Rs 3,400 crore), while the net fiscal deficit is expected to be Rs 16,296 crore, or Rs 2.90. Chaudhry told the House that 10 per cent of GDP.

This is within the 3% limit stipulated in the FRBM Act (Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act), he added. “The total revenue surplus is expected to be Rs 1,060 crore in 2023-24. Chhattisgarh is one of the progressive states that has maintained revenue surplus status,” he said.

The minister said the capital expenditure for 2024-25 is proposed at Rs 22,300 crore, which is 15 per cent of the budgeted expenditure and is 20 per cent higher than that in 2023-24. The minister told the House that this was higher than the average capital expenditure of 12 per cent over the past five years.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from associated news agency – PTI)