Yogi govt tables budget worth Rs 6.9 trn targeting $1 trn-economy by 2027

Yogi Adityanath government 2.0 tabled a mammoth Budget 2023-24 of more than Rs 6.9 trillion with the stated objective of laying the foundation of the ambitious target of Uttar Pradesh becoming a $1 trillion economy by 2027.

Talking to media after the UP Annual Budget 2023-24 was tabled in the state legislature, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said the annual financial statement 2023-24 was vital to bolster the state's prospects of the $1 trillion economy goal.

"We have provided budgetary allocation to all the key sectors including infrastructure, MSME, agriculture etc...UP has to develop to realise the aim of India becoming a $5 trillion economy. The UP Budget will promote the composite development of the state and foster self reliant (Aatmanirbhar) theme," he added.

Meanwhile, the UP Budget 2023-24 size of about Rs 6.9 trillion is nearly 6.5 per cent higher compared with the total state budget for the current financial year 2022-23 of about Rs 6.48 trillion.

The CM said his government had adhered to the fiscal discipline while drafting the budget and conforming to the norms of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) by taming fiscal deficit to Rs 84,883 crore, which is 3.48 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP).

"UP is a revenue surplus state since we have not only increased the tax net but taken effective steps to curb tax evasion," he said ,adding the state government had doubled the per capita income as well as the GSDP over the past six years since the 2016-17 financial year," Adityanath added.

The Budget includes new schemes of Rs 32,000 crore while about Rs 7,500 crore have been allocated to the social security sector.

Meanwhile, the government has provided Rs 32,721 crore for new schemes. It has total receipts of Rs 6.83 trillion comprising  revenue and capital receipts of Rs 5.70 trillion and Rs 1.12 trillion respectively.

The tax revenue component of Rs 4.45 trillion incorporates Rs 2.62 trillion in state tax revenue and Rs 1.83 trillion in the state's share in central taxes.

The total expenditure of Rs 6.90 trillion comiprises revenue and capital component of Rs 5.02 trillion and Rs 1.87 trillion respectively.

Earlier, UP finance minister Suresh Khanna tabled the Budget in the UP legislative assembly. Earlier, it was expected that the Yogi government would table a budget of Rs 7 trillion but it was leaner by Rs 10,000 crore.

Since UP would witness the 2024 Lok Sabha elections next year and the state accounts for the maximum number of seats at 80, the state government is likely to table a more populist budget next year to keep the electorate in good humour.

"In 2016-17, only 33 per cent of the UP budget was funded by self revenue generation. This figure has jumped to 45-46 per cent due to higher revenues. Besides, the debt servicing ratio has come down to 6 per cent from 8 per cent earlier," the CM informed.

He said while the state was promoting new industries by creating world class infrastructure, it was also reviving sick units for socioeconomic growth and job creation.

Meanwhile, Rs 5,000 crore have been allocated for developing new industrial clusters in UP, while Rs 1,200 crore would be spent on promoting multimodal transport infra.

Moreover, RS 3,600 crore have been given for distributing free tablet and smartphones to graduates and post graduate students in the next fiscal.

The current budget session of the UP legislature started on Monday and it is expected to continue till March 10. The opposition parties continue to corner the Yogi government over a plethora of people's issues.