The Maharashtra Budget for the fiscal year 2025-26 is set to be unveiled in both Houses of the legislature on March 10 by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who also oversees the Finance and Planning portfolios. In advance of the state budget, the government presented its pre-Budget Economic Survey in the assembly on Friday.
Insights from the Economic Survey:
1. The state’s economy is projected to grow at 7.3 percent according to the advance estimates for 2024-25. This anticipated growth rate surpasses that of the national economy, which is expected to expand by 6.5 percent in the current fiscal year, as noted in the survey report.
2. The pre-Budget Economic Survey read in the Maharashtra legislative assembly on Friday highlighted that ₹17,505.90 crore has been transferred to the bank accounts of 2.38 crore women beneficiaries of the Ladki Bahin Yojana by December 2024.
3. Under the integrated programme, approximately 8.45 lakh surgeries and therapies have been conducted at a total cost of ₹1,143.26 crore up until December of the fiscal year 2024-25.
4. Maharashtra’s debt stock is projected to rise by 10.1 percent compared to the previous year and is anticipated to reach 17.3 percent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), which remains within fiscal and budgetary parameters. This debt level of 17.3 percent is below the established threshold of 25 percent of GSDP, the survey disclosed.
5. Maharashtra is ranked 5th in the nation for milk production, contributing 6.7 percent of the total output. In egg production, it stands seventh, holding a 5.5 percent share.
Will financial support under the Ladki Bahin Scheme increase?
Maharashtra’s Minister for Women and Child Development, Aditi Ttkare, previously stated in the Maharashtra Assembly that the anticipated increase in financial assistance under the scheme—from ₹1,500 to ₹2,100—will not take effect immediately.
“The Mahayuti government initiated the Ladki Bahin Yojana on July 6 last year, providing ₹1,500 monthly to qualifying women. Though the coalition pledged in its election manifesto to raise this amount to ₹2,100, the chief minister did not clarify that this increase would be applied in the forthcoming budget,” Ttkare was quoted as saying in the Indian Express.
