MVA leaders term Budget a maha disappointment; Opposition denies

Announcements only on Metro lines for Nagpur, Pune, some road and railway projects in Maharashtra. State officials to study Budget to see the benefits for Maharashtra.

With no major announcement for Maharashtra in Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s speech on Monday, barring next phases of Metro lines for Nagpur, Pune and a couple of road and railway projects, political parties in the state had mixed reactions to the Union budget. State officials said they would study the details of the budget to see the benefits for Maharashtra.

Shoppers watch the highlights of the Union budget 2021-22 presented by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on TV screens at a TV showroom in Prabhadevi on Monday. (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT Photo)

In her speech, Sitharaman announced a provision of ₹2,092 crore for Nashik Metro and ₹5,976 crore for the second phase of Nagpur Metro. An allocation of ₹65,000 crore has been made for the national highway measuring 1,100km, including Mumbai-Kanyakumari corridor of 600km.

Officials said they were expecting allocations for infrastructure, agriculture and health. They also said the Centre has increased borrowing from ₹5.35 lakh crore to ₹12.5 lakh crore in its revised estimates for FY 20-21 and it will benefit the states. “Maharashtra, being one of the largest states, will definitely get a significant share of these funds, although it is not what would be the share of the state in the provisions for agriculture and irrigation. The state’s borrowing limits have been upped to 4% of the GDP and it will help us in pump in more money into system,” he said.

The Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in the state expressed its unhappiness over the union budget. “The budget should be for the country and not only for the elections. How can the budget presented with an eye on elections in certain states fulfil the expectations of people,” asked chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, in his initial reaction, referring to various announcements made by Sitharaman for poll-bound states such as West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Maharashtra finance minister Ajit Pawar said that Modi government’s bias towards Maharashtra was visible in the Centre’s budget. “Poll-bound states like West Bengal have been given a major share, but their actual realisation seems to be difficult. Mumbai, Pune or Maharashtra have got nothing in the budget. The provision for Metro in Nashik and Nagpur has been done keeping an eye on civic polls in these cities. The minister uttered no word about Wardha-Yavatmal-Nanded, Nashik-Pune, Karad-Chiplun railway corridors. MPs from Maharashtra should now come together to urge the finance minister for adequate outlay for the state,” he said.

According to an official, the allocation for the national highway too will not come to Maharashtra. “The highway is connected to the existing corridor originating in Mumbai, but the spending is fully in Kerala. The outlay for the Metro projects is for the ones already under implementation. No new project has been allocated for the state. There is no announcement for extension of the GST compensation beyond June 2022 or inclusion of more items (from six presently) in cess collection fund as was expected,” said an official from the finance department.

Sitharaman announced tax sops for setting up units at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City in Gujarat.

The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, lauded the budget. Leader of opposition and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis described the budget as full of confidence which would lead India on the path of self-reliance. “The proposals for the Nagpur and Nashik Metro lines were sent during our government. We are thankful to the Centre for accepting them. Although only a few projects from Maharashtra have been named in budget, there would be many more projects and sizable allocation for Maharashtra in the actual budget,” Fadnavis said. “Shifting of the IFSC to Gujarat was a sin committed by the then UPA government in 2012, which gave it a nod. The Congress and NCP government should not blame us for it.”

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut dismissed the speculations that the Centre gave allocation to the two cities to gain electorally in municipal polls. “I do not think that they have given allocation to Nashik and Nagpur because they are in power there. They may be in power now, but going forward it will not be so.”