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Gujarat govt presents ₹3.32 lakh-cr budget, proposes no new taxes
Gujarat finance minister Kanubhai Desai on Friday presented a ₹3.32 lakh crore state budget with no new taxes imposed on people.
Gujarat finance minister Kanubhai Desai on Friday presented a ₹3.32 lakh crore state budget with no new taxes imposed on people.
Presenting the 2024-25 budget in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly in Gandhinagar, Desai said that the total budget outlay of ₹3,32,465 crore for 2024-25 showed an increase of ₹31,444 crore, or 10.44%, over the previous fiscal (2023-24 budget estimate)
Of the total outlay, nearly ₹2.14 lakh crore or 64.4% was allocated for “developmental expenditure”, while ₹83,000 crore or 25.1% was for “non-developmental expenditure”, he said.
A day after Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the interim budget 2024-25 on Thursday, attention has now turned to the state governments which will begin tabling their respective budgets. Gujarat government unveiled its fiscal plan for the year 2024-25 with an estimated surplus budget of ₹146.72 crore while outlining a roadmap for the next 25 years.
The budget proposes a slew of schemes and projects and Desai said that the state government kept GYAN – ‘Garib’ (poor), ‘Yuva’ (youth), ‘Annadata’ (farmer) and ‘Nari Shakti’ (women power) – at the core while preparing the budget.
The finance minister also announced a slew of projects and schemes including a Fintech Hub at Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) in Gandhinagar, a semiconductor school at Sanand and a manufacturing hub for space sector at Khoraj near Ahmedabad.
“To touch new heights of excellence in the field of sports it has been decided to build Olympic class sports infrastructure in the state. To this end, the Sardar Patel sports complex in Ahmedabad will be developed further in a phase-wise manner,” the minister announced.
By raising Gujarat’s contribution to the national GDP from 5.1% in 2000-2001, to 8.2% right now, the state has earned the distinction of being the growth engine of India, he said.
“The guiding light of this journey of development is the illustrious son of Gujarat, Prime Minister Shri Narendrabhai Modi. Our visionary PM has further declared his resolve to make India a developed country by the centenary of its independence in 2047. Gujarat chief minister Bhupendrabhai Patel’ government aims to play a significant role in attaining the goal of Viksit Bharat @2047, by taking a lead in the socio-economic development of the country,” he said.
