$1 trillion economy is Maharashtra’s target, says CM during Budget: Report
Mumbai:
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday presented a revenue deficit budget, announcing an amnesty scheme for payers of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and a reduction in VAT on natural gas among other tax concessions.
Presenting the third budget of the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government in the Assembly, Pawar, who holds the finance portfolio, said a provision of Rs 1,50,000 crore has been made for the annual plan.
As per the budget estimates, the revenue receipts would be Rs 4,03,427 crore and the revenue expenditure would be Rs 4,27,780 crore.
Thus, there will be a revenue deficit of Rs 24,353 crore.
As per the Revised Estimates for the year 2021-22, the tax revenue will be Rs 2,75,498 crore. This includes Revised Estimates of Rs 1,55,307 crore on account of GST, VAT, Central Sales Tax, Professional Tax and other necessary taxes.
The Finance Minister announced that there would be a waiver scheme for GST arrears called ‘Maharashtra Settlement of Dues of Tax, Interest, Penalty or Late Fee Scheme, 2022’.
The duration of the scheme will be from 1st April, 2022 to 30th September, 2022.
Under this scheme, arrears of Rs 10,000 or less per year will be completely waived off.
Dealers who have dues of Rs 10 lakh or less will have the option to pay 20 per cent of the outstanding amount in one go and can get a discount for the rest.
Pawar said small dealers would benefit in about one lakh outstanding cases, while medium dealers would benefit in 2.2 lakh cases.
Other concessions include exemption from 3% stamp duty on gift deed and 5% stamp duty on sale deed, which will cost the exchequer about Rs 21 crore.
Proposing reduction of VAT on natural gas, Pawar said the fuel is environment-friendly and is used for piped gas supply, CNG-powered motor vehicles, auto-rickshaws, taxis and private vehicles. The rate of VAT on natural gas will be reduced from 13.5 per cent to 3 per cent. He said that this would result in loss of revenue of Rs 800 crore.
An amnesty scheme for pending fine arrears under the Stamp Act will cost the government Rs 1,500 crore.
Waiving off 0.1 per cent stamp duty on delivery order documents of gold and silver will reduce revenue by Rs 100 crore.
The tax levied by the Maharashtra Maritime Board on passengers and pets, vehicles and goods traveling by boats and ro-ro boats will be waived for three years.
The minister said that the government would make sincere efforts to achieve the revised revenue collection targets.
The tax concession proposals would collectively dent the state’s income by over Rs 2,400 crore.
Pawar said an incentive grant of Rs 50,000 could not be distributed due to financial constraints to each of the farmers who regularly repay their crop loans announced in 2020 and it would be given in the coming year.
The Finance Minister said that the grant would benefit about 20 lakh farmers, causing a loss of Rs 10,000 crore to the exchequer.
The budget gives priority to agriculture, health, human resources, transport and industry with a five-point development programme. The Finance Minister said that the government will provide Rs 4 lakh crore for these sectors in the next three years.
He claimed that this would lead to massive investments in the economy, expanding it to USD 1 trillion.
Pawar said the revenue receipts for 2021-22 were earlier Rs 3,68,987 crore, which has now been revised to Rs 3,62,132 crore.
The budget expenditure for the financial year 21-22 was estimated to be Rs 4,37,961 crore, while the revised estimate is Rs 4,53,547 crore.
Pawar said the increase in expenditure was due to the assistance given to the people during the pandemic and natural calamities.
The state’s economy was slowly recovering after the COVID-19 shock. Pawar said that while the ongoing war in Ukraine has badly affected the world economy, it will affect sectors like agriculture, industry and services in the state.