Hike in Petrol-diesel prices in Maharashtra by one rupee per litre

Concession in stamp duty to boost real estate

FM Ajit Pawar tables a deficit budget in Maharashtra Assembly

Mumbai: A debt-ridden Maharashtra government on Friday announced a hike in Value Added Tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel by one rupee per litre while introducing the budget in the state legislature. It is anticipated to add Rs 1,800 crore of revenue income to the state exchequer. On the other hand, the state has decided to shower concessions in stamp duty applicable on registration of documents. It is expected that this decision will boost the real estate sector in Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and Municipal Corporation of Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad and Nagpur area.

Ajit Pawar, Minister for Finance and Planning tabled the annual budget for the fiscal year 2020-21 in the Lower House, whereas Shambhuraj Desai, minister of state (MoS) for Finance and Planning tabled the budget in Upper House of the state legislature.

Maharashtra which has a debt burden of Rs 4,64,020 crores in the fiscal year 2019-20, is expected to reach Rs 5,20,717 crores in 2020-21. The percentage of debt against Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) has marginally risen to 16.2, from 16.1 per cent in the year 2019-20.

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Pawar through his budget estimated that a total Rs 4.34 lakh crore would add to the state coffers from various capital accounts. Out of which 51.84 per cent will receive from states own tax revenue whereas 4.72 per cent will receive from states own non-tax revenue. States share in Central Taxes is 11.08 per cent whereas the internal debt of the state is 18.57 per cent. The total 55.11 per cent spent on salary, pension and interest of government employees of the state government.

FM Pawar presented the deficit budget as the state could not achieve the expected revenue from various capital accounts in fiscal year 2019-20. The state received Rs 2,221 crore less from Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST), Rs 16290 crore less from State Goods and Services Tax (SGST), Rs 1565 crores less from taxes other than corporate tax and Rs 375 crores from custom duty. 

On the other hand, the state had to make an additional provision of Rs 16,525 crore for implementation of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Shetkari Sanman Yojana – 2017 and Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Shetakari Karjamukti Yojana-2019. Also, additional provision of Rs 1,388 crore was made for assistance to farmers in various schemes.

The budget size for the year 2020-21 is of Rs 1,15,000 crore. Of which Rs 9800 crore has been proposed for District Plan. Highest Rs 42,588.34 crore has been proposed for social and community services whereas Rs 16,333.94 crore has been proposed for agriculture and allied services. The transport department has been proposed at Rs 16,846 crores.