Amid the Opposition's allegation that the state's financial growth has taken a significant hit since the change of guard, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday highlighted that Maharashtra still ranks first in the country in terms of GST collection. He made the statement in the assembly while speaking during the debate on the budget.
Asserting that the budget 2023-24 will empower the state, he said, “State's total GST collection for 2022-23 is Rs1,18,020 crore. In 2021-22, it was Rs86,478 crore and Rs65,038 crore in 2020-21. Maharashtra is still number (in terms of GST collection) in the country.” Talking about the newly announced Krishi Samman Yojana, Fadnavis said, “Our priority is farmers welfare. We will give Rs6,000 to 1.15 crore farmers. It will cost Rs6,900 crore to the state but it's important to note that this will give farmers a boost.”
Commenting on the Opposition's argument that the state's growth rate has declined in the past one year, Fadnavis said these observations are not up to the mark. “State has seen a minus ten growth rate during Covid after that it jumped suddenly and is now stabilizing. So calling it low is not the right way,” he said.
Fadnavis also explained the number of schemes announced such as 'lek laadki' (our dear daughters), insurance for farmers, irrigation and infrastructure projects as well as announcements of formation of new boards to give justice to every smaller community.
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