M'rashtra FM defends pro-farmer budget with Rs 26,819 cr layout

Hints at raising debt to complete pending irrigation projects

Maharashtra finance minister, Sudhir Mungantiwar, on Monday strongly defended his pro-farmer budget for 2016-17, saying that an allocation of Rs 26,819.39 crore has been proposed for agriculture and allied sectors, compared with Rs 15,005 crore in 2013-14 during Congress-NCP government. In his reply to the debate on the budget in the state assembly, he said that Maharashtra’s capex in agriculture stood at Rs 13,995 crore in 2015-16, higher than Rs 10,976 crore in Gujarat and Rs 9,132 crore in Madhya Pradesh.

He indicated that the government will raise debt to complete pending projects in order to increase the irrigation potential in the state. The minister said he has proposed an allocation of Rs 7,850 crore for the irrigation sector in 2016-17 compared to Rs 7,272 crore in 2015-16, Rs 6,528 crore in 2014-15, Rs 7,036 crore in 2013-14, Rs 5,995 crore in 2-12-13 and Rs 6,489 crore in 2011-12.

He countered the opposition’s attack on the size of the state’s annual plan of Rs 56,997 crore for 2016-17, compared with Rs 85,557 crore in Gujarat and Rs 74,401 crore in Madhya Pradesh. "Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh include allocation to state undertakings and therefore their plan size is higher than Maharashtra. Based on such calculations, Maharashtra’s annual plan is worth Rs 85,557 crore. The state plan was Rs 11,000 crore in 2005-06 and it rose to Rs 45,000 crore in 2012-13, and Rs 49,000 crore in 2013-14," the minister said.

Mungantiwar also defended the revenue deficit of Rs 3,644 crore estimated by the end of 2016-17 and recalled that the Congress-NCP government had time and again tabled budgets with revenue deficit. "The revenue deficit was largely due to the government’s move to provide maximum help to farmers hit by drought and natural calamities," he said. However, he assured the house that the government will make every effort to present revenue surplus in future.

The minister also refuted the opposition’s charge of reduction in the Central grant received by Maharashtra and said that the state has received Rs 24,964 crore during 2015-16, compared with Rs 14,322 crore in 2012-13, Rs 13,341 crore in 2013-14, Rs 24,981 crore in 2014-15.

The minister added that the government has proposed capex of Rs 32,537 crore in 2016-17 against Rs 29,716 crore in 2015-16.