The Finance Minister of West Bengal (WB) Chandrima Bhattacharya presented a state budget of Rs 3,66,166 crore for FY2024-25 which introduced a Gender and Child Budget Budget.
Financial Indicators:
i.Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) for FY25 is projected at Rs 18.8 lakh crore, showing a growth of 10.5% over FY24.
ii.The state will repay debt of Rs 61,427 crore while the state’s dues from the central government is nearly Rs 1.18 lakh crore.
iii.Total receipts for 2024-25 are estimated to be Rs 3,36,114.02 crores with Revenue Receipt of Rs 236,251.09 crores and Capital Receipt of Rs 99,862.93 crores
iv.Total expenditure is estimated at Rs 3,36,116.02 crores with Revenue Expenditure at Rs 268,202.76 crores and Capital Expenditure at Rs 67,913.26 crores.
v.The revenue deficit for FY25 is estimated to be 1.7% of GSDP, amounting to Rs 31,952 crore.
vi.The fiscal deficit target for FY25 is set at 3.6% of GSDP, totaling Rs 68,250 crore.
vii.Grants from the centre in FY25 are estimated at Rs 34,684 crore.
viii.WB’s total own tax revenue is estimated to be Rs 102,348.92 crore in FY25, an increase of 10% over the revised estimate of FY24.
- Own tax revenue as a percentage of GSDP is estimated at 5.4% in FY25.
What is under the Gender and Child Budget?
The total allocation towards gender budget is Rs 96,272.69 crores in which Rs 21,380.69 crore under 100% women specific schemes and Rs 74,891 crore for schemes with 30% to 99% dedicated to the development and empowerment of women.
- The allocation towards Child Budget is Rs 57,419.19 crores.
- This budget has been prepared by analysing the demands for grants of various departments specifically intended for expenditure relating to women and children,
Highlights fromWB’sFY25 Budget:
i.The monthly financial assistance under Lakshmir Bhandar scheme has been raised to Rs 1,200 for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) community, whereas for other categories, it has been increased to Rs 1,000. In this regard, Rs 14,400 crore has been allocated for Lakshmir Bhandar.
- After 60 years of age, the beneficiaries will get the same financial assistance under the old age pension scheme.
- The scheme provides financial support to women heads of families between the ages of 25 and 60. Click Here to read about the scheme
ii.Karmasree scheme: The state government will provide at least 50 days of work to MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) job card holders under the scheme from May 2024 onwards.
iii.An additional 4% dearness allowance (DA) for state government employees is announced from May 2024.
- This is in addition to the 4% that was declared in January 2024.
iv.Agriculture: 2,000 farm machinery hubs and custom hiring centers will be established at the gram panchayat level in the next two years, with an allocation of Rs 450 crore.
- Additionally, Rs 200 crore is earmarked for setting up 1,200 Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) to enhance market connectivity for agricultural produce.
v.Taruner Swapno: Providing Rs 10,000 one-time aid to class 11 students for buying smartphones/tablets, with a budget of Rs 900 crore.
vi.Thermal Power: Building four supercritical thermal power units totaling 2,920 MW (Mega Watt) at a project cost of Rs 23,360 crore over four years.
vii.Matsyajeebi Bandhu scheme: One-time financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh will be given to dependent family members of a government registered fisherman in case of death, under this scheme.
viii.A startup fund of Rs 350 crores will be provided to aspiring young entrepreneurs, with each individual eligible to receive up to Rs 5 lakh.
ix.State Government has declared an extension of the stamp duty rebate until March 2023 as a measure to aid individuals and businesses impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Key Allocations:
i.Rs 18,029 crore has been allocated for assistance to non-government secondary schools.
ii.Rs 7,732 crore has been allocated for assistance to non-government primary schools.
iii.Rs 4,496 crore has been allocated for old age pension scheme under Jai Bangla
iv.Rs 5,800 crore has been allocated for financial support to Krishak Bandhu.
v.Rs 1,200 crore has been allocated for crop insurance.
vi.Rs 4,745 crore has been allocated for MGNREGA.
vii.Rs 1,201 crore has been allocated for talent support for meritorious students.
Others:
i.Agricultural income tax on tea gardens for 2023-24 and 2024-25 to be waived.
ii.12,500-km of rural roads to be constructed at a cost of Rs 3,000 crore.
iii.The annual fund allocation for MLAs (Members of Legislative Assembly) for local area development works under Vidhayak Elaka Unnayan Prakalpa increased from Rs 60 lakh to Rs 70 lakh for FY25.
Click Here to Read about Economic Review of West Bengal covering all State Schemes
Recent Related News:
i.The party-wise analysis of the State Legislative Assemblies shows that the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal had the highest share of women MLAs (3%) followed by the Congress in Chhattisgarh (14.7%).
ii.The construction of a new navigation lock gate at Farakka, West Bengal, undertaken by the Inland Waterways Authority of India, at a cost of Rs 375 crore.
About West Bengal (WB):
Chief Minister– Mamata Banerjee
Governor– C. V. Ananda Bose
National Parks– Buxa National Park, Gorumara National Park
