Gujarat govt presents Rs 3.32 lakh crore budget; no new taxes proposed

Gandhinagar: The BJP-ruled Gujarat government on Friday presented a Rs 3.32 lakh crore budget that imposed no new taxes.

Finance Minister Kanubhai Desai presented the budget for 2024-25 in the Assembly here on the second day of the Budget Session.

Desai informed the House that the budget outlay of Rs 3,32,465 crore for 2024-25 indicates an increase of Rs 31,444 crore, or 10.44 per cent, over the previous fiscal.

The state government presented the budget with an estimated surplus of 146.72 crore and proposed no new taxes.

In his budgetary address, Desai announced a host of schemes and projects and said the state government kept GYAN – ‘Garib’ (the poor), ‘Yuva’ (youth), ‘Annadata’ (farmer) and ‘Nari Shakti’ (women power) – at the core while preparing the budget.

Under the newly proposed ‘Namo Lakshmi’ scheme, girls studying in government, aided and private schools from Classes 9 to 12 will be given Rs 50,000 over the four years of their education. A provision of Rs 1,250 crore has been made in the budget for this programme.

Under the ‘Namo Shri’ scheme, pregnant women belonging to backward and poor sections will be provided assistance of Rs 12,000 and a provision of Rs 750 crore has been made in the budget.

The finance minister also announced the conversion of seven municipalities – Navsari, Gandhidham, Morbi, Vapi, Anand, Mehsana and Surendranagar-Wadhwan – into municipal corporations.

He also announced the ‘Jan Rakshak’ scheme wherein all the emergency services, including police and fire brigade, can be accessed centrally by dialling 112.

The state budget also provides for the extension of the existing riverfront on Sabarmati till GIFT-City (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City) in Gandhinagar in Phases 4 and 5.

While no new taxes were proposed, the state government has proposed to give citizens a relief of Rs 754 crore by easing some provisions of the Motor Vehicle Act and stamp duty.