Mumbai, March 6 Focussing on health, education and farmers, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday presented a Rs 9,511 crore deficit budget for the year 2020-2021.
Against the total revenue receipts of Rs 3,47,457 crore, the revenue expenditure is expected to be Rs 356,968 crore leaving a shortfall of Rs 9,511 crore, compared to the deficit of Rs 20,293 crore last fiscal, said Pawar, who holds the Finance portfolio.
Tabling the maiden budget of the Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress Maha Vikas Aghadi government, he said that the state's debt stood at Rs.4.33 lakh crore, increasing from Rs 2.82 lakh crore five years ago.
Pawar said that there has been a decline in the Central funds allocated to the state by Rs 8,453 crore.
However, despite the funds crunch and economic slowdown, the government has provided funds for key sectors like unemployment generation, health, irrigation development, urban and rural infrastructure projects, provisions for the agriculture and education sectors.
On the health front, the MVA regime has proposed an outlay of Rs 5,000 crore, of which 50 percent will be set aside for medical education like construction of new hospitals, revamping existing hospitals, and medical colleges, buying new ambulances, etc.
An amount of Rs 1,000 crore will be spent on revamping all roads leading to major urban markets in all cities in the state, and Rs 1,300 crore for higher and technical education.
"In the current economic slowdown, it is inevitable for us to provide for expenditure on public welfare schemes and giving a stimulus to the state economy, and hence the recent deficit may be viewed favourably," Pawar said.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, NCP ministers Jayant Patil, Nawab Malik, Chhagan Bhujbal, and Congress ministers Balasaheb Thorat, Ashok Chavan, and other hailed the budget, while the Leader Of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis criticized the budget on various counts.
( With inputs from IANS )