Maharashtras GSDP likely to expand by 10% in FY25, government focus on farmers: Ajit Pawar

Maharashtra's gross state domestic product (GSDP) was expected to grow by 10 per cent in FY 2024-25 and the government was committed to ensuring that the revenue deficit doesn't cross the prescribed limit, Finance Minister Ajit Pawar told the Legislative Assembly on Friday. The GSDP, which was at Rs 38.79 lakh crore in 2023-2024, was expected to expand by 10 per cent to reach Rs 42.67 lakh crore in 2024-25, Pawar, who is also Deputy Chief Minister, said in his reply to a debate on the interim budget for 2024 25 presented in the Lower House earlier this week. GSDP indicates the total economic output generated within a state's boundaries over a specified period, typically a fiscal year. Pawar said the fiscal deficit -- the gap between the government's income and expenditure -- has been restricted at 2.32 per cent of state GDP. He rejected the opposition's claim that the government was violating provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act (FRBM Act).

Instead, he noted, the state's revenue deficit (when revenue expenditure exceeds revenue receipts), fiscal deficit and also public debt all are within parameters set by the FRBM Act as well as the Finance Commission. The fiscal deficit in 2023-24 was 2.89 per cent, which was below 3 per cent of GSDP as laid down by the Finance Commission, and the gap will be further down to 2.32 per cent in 2024-25, the deputy CM told the House. The public debt will be Rs 7.82 lakh crore in 2024-25, which will be 18.35 per cent of GSDP, below the prescribed limit of 25 per cent (FRBM Act stipulates ceiling for debt to GSDP ratio at 25 per cent), he said. Maharashtra has faired well in managing its debt considering that some states have crossed the 25 per cent limit, pointed out Pawar. He said the GST (Goods and Services Tax) recovery has also increased, filling the state coffers substantially.

The GST revenue has increased 19.9 per cent, which is the highest for a state in the country. The deputy CM maintained the interim budget, in which total expenditure for the next fiscal year was pegged at Rs 6,00,522 crore with a revenue deficit of Rs 9,734 crore, focusing on agriculture, education, public works, health and medical education, social justice, among other segments.

Apart from this, thrust has been given to infrastructure development to facilitate industrial growth, he stated. Pawar noted his government was pro-farmer and highlighted measures taken for cultivators, including providing the benefit of crop insurance to them by paying only Re 1, contributing Rs 6,000 (per eligible farmer, per year) in the centrally-sponsored Namo Shetkari Sanman scheme as well as providing essential foodgrains at subsidised rates.

He said Mahananda Dairy, a state government entity, will be handed over to any institution which gives the best proposal for managing it, and rejected speculations that the undertaking has been handed over to a Gujarat-based organisation. Opposition members staged a walkout protesting against Pawar's reply and stating that common citizens had not got any relief in the interim budget.