Farmers seem to be the Maharashtra Government’s top priority as State Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar presented the budget for 2018-2019 in the state Legislative Assembly.
A subsidy of Rs 922 crore has been granted to farmers producing wheat and rice in 14 suicide-hit districts. Farmers cultivating wheat and rice will receive a subsidy of Rs 2 per kg and Rs 3 per kg respectively.
The State Government has also allocated Rs 3,015 crore to be spent on 26 major irrigation projects under the Pradhan Mantri Sinchai Yojana. Rs 750 crore, meanwhile, have been budgeted for the supply of agricultural water pumps.
In a bid to promote organic farming, Rs 100 crore has been set aside for it.
Infrastructure too has received a major thrust in this budget. Rs 10,948 crore is the estimate for improving suburban railway services in Mumbai under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project 3 undertaken by the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation. The costs for this will be shared equally by the State and Centre.
Rs 50 crore has been set aside for one coaching centre in each district in Maharashtra for UPSC, banking and other competitive exams. The State Government has also allotted Rs 605 crore for raising the annual family income cap for eligibility of educational freeships from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 8 lakh.
In a bid to promote startups, Rs 5,000 crore will be budgeted over the next five years until 2022. This is expected to help 10,000 startups.
10 lakh youths will also be trained for 5 years under the Government’s skill development programme.
Rs 300 crore has been set aside for the massive Shivaji Memorial being built off the Mumbai coast and Rs 150 crore has been allocated for the Ambedkar Memorial.
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