Gujarat govt presents Rs 3.01 trn budget with no new taxes proposed

The Gujarat government on Friday presented a Rs 3.01 lakh crore budget with no new taxes imposed on people.

Gujarat Finance Minister Kanu Desai presented the budgetary outlay for fiscal 2023-24 in the state Assembly here. This was the first budget of the new Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government headed by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel which took office in December last year after the saffron outfit registered a landslide victory in the Assembly polls.

The Budget 2023-24 proposes a slew of schemes and projects, some of which were part of the promises made by the BJP in its manifesto before the 2022 elections, like doubling the insurance coverage under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya-MA (PMJAY-MA) scheme to Rs 10 lakh from Rs 5 lakh and providing two gas cylinders free per year to the beneficiaries of Ujjwala scheme. Minister Desai said that taking into consideration the revenue account with capital account and net public account, the estimates for the financial year 2023-24 show a surplus of Rs 916.87 crore. "In this 'amrit kaal', I present the budget which will determine the direction of the development of the state for the next 25 years. For the year 2023-24, I propose a budgetary outlay of Rs 301,021 crore," he said. This shows a significant increase in the budgetary provisions, which is 23.38 per cent higher than the previous year, he said. The government aims to increase the state's Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) beyond Rs 42 lakh crore, he said. No new taxes are being proposed in the budget, he said.

"During the pandemic, we had given relief to various sections of the society to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore by reducing various taxes," he said. The state government will spend around Rs 5 lakh crore on the development of infrastructure facilities in the next five years, he said.

Five state highways will be developed as high speed corridors at Rs 1,500 crore investment, Desai said.

The government also plans to set up sports complexes in each district and taluka of the state, he said, adding that Rs 1,066 crore will be spent on providing houses to around one lakh people under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) during the next year.