Madhya Pradesh finance minister Jagdish Deoda presented a revenue surplus budget of over Rs 3.14 lakh crore on Wednesday in the state assembly ahead of the December polls.
With a special focus on women, tribals and religion, Deoda announced schemes for giving scooty and skill upgradation stipends to girl students, a special fund to provide employment to nomadic tribes and the development of Hindu religious structures in Salkanpur, Orchha and Chitrakoot. To woo the Dalit community, he announced a memorial for Sant Ravidas in the Sagar district.
The 2023-24 MP budget is Rs 3,14,025 crore, an increase of 12.5% from the previous year’s budget of Rs. 2,79,237 crore and is expected to have higher revenue growth of 16%.
Even though the state promised to keep the fiscal deficit at 4.02% of the state gross domestic product (SGDP) in the next financial year, the state’s debt would increase to Rs 3,85,000 crore by March 31, 2024, because of more money needed to fund new initiatives announced in the budget. As of now, the state’s debt is Rs 3,00,000 crore. The finance minister said that the debt to GSDP ratio would be 27.83% in 2023-24, down from 30.12% in the current financial year.
The finance minister did not announce any new tax and kept Rs 1.02 lakh crore for women’s empowerment and welfare.
“To achieve the objective of self-reliance in women, a support of Rs 1,000 will be made per month under the ‘Mukya Mantri Laadli Behna’ scheme,” Deoda said. The scheme aims to transform the lives of crores of women across the state by empowering them financially. The budget provision for the scheme is Rs 8000 crore,” he added.