The Maharashtra government on Monday tabled supplementary demands of Rs 8,609 crore on the first day of the Budget session of the state assembly. State finance minister Ajit Pawar tabled the supplementary demands, which are additional funds sought by the government over the budgetary allocation, in the legislative assembly, followed by the council.“I table the supplementary demands of Rs 8,609.17 crore before the House,” Pawar said. As per the supplementary demand note, demands of Rs 2,210 crore were for financial assistance to farmers whose crops were destroyed due to the unseasonal showers, hailstorms and water scarcity. During the winter session in December last year, supplementary demands of Rs 55,520.77 crore were tabled in the state legislature and eventually cleared. The five-day budget session of the Maharashtra State Legislature commenced on Monday, and according to officials, supplementary demands for the year 2023-24 will be tabled on the first day of the session and condolence resolutions will be passed for those members of the house who passed away this year.
An interim budget for the year 2024-25 will be presented by the state government on Tuesday. The session will be held till March 1, during which Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Ajit Pawar is likely to present the interim budget. The vote-on-account or interim budget is the permission that government seeks from the house to spend the funds for a few months in the financial year or a period till the newly elected government takes over. The newly elected government then presents the full budget. The state government will then table the additional or full-fledged budget in its next session in July. With the Lok Sabha elections slated for April-May, and the state assembly elections slated for October, populist pre-poll sops are expected to be announced in the budget.While supplementary demands will be discussed and approved in the morning on February 27, Finance Minister Ajit Pawar will present the budget in both the houses in the afternoon. The official said that provisions of expenditure will be made in the interim budget for four months from April 1, 2024 to July 31, 2024, which will include salary and allowances of government employees, loan instalments, interests and expenditure incurred on Lok Sabha elections.