Maha CM Eknath Shinde terms Union Budget as inclusive says it focuses on farmers, youths and tribals

Terming the Union Budget for 2023-24 as inclusive, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said it focuses on farmers, labourers, women, youths and tribals, and also seeks to generate employment.

He said the budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Lok Sabha aims to give justice to all sections of society and also has provisions for agriculture, environment, and basic infrastructure.

Sitharaman raised the personal income tax rebate limit, doled out sops on small savings and announced one of the biggest hikes in capital spending in the past decade.

The personal income tax rebate limit has been increased to Rs 7 lakh from the fiscal year starting April 1 under the new tax regime from the previous Rs 5 lakh. Also, the maximum income tax rate has been reduced to about 39 per cent from 42.7 per cent earlier.

The budget is inclusive. It has focused on all subjects, including generating employment, and important segments like farmers, labourers, women, tribals and youths, Shinde said.

The CM, an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), welcomed the move to not levy any tax on annual income of up to Rs 7 lakh under the new I-T regime and said this will give a big relief to the middle class. He said Rs 10 lakh crore has been earmarked for infrastructure projects.

This will have a positive impact on Maharashtra where many big-ticket infrastructure projects are under various phases of construction, said Shinde. He said the budget has given priority to agriculture and cooperative sectors.

Shinde said Maharashtra is known for its robust Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector and changes proposed in the credit guarantee scheme in the budget will help entities in the key segment.

A new sub-scheme of Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana will be launched with targeted investment of Rs 6,000 crore to further enable activities of fishermen, fish vendors, and micro and small enterprises, improve value chain efficiencies, and expand the market, Sitharaman said in her budget speech.