Gujarat Budget: From Fintech Hub to Sports Complexes, 10 Big Announcements

Gujarat Finance Minister Kanubhai Desai presented the annual budget for the year 2023-24 on Friday. It is the first budget since the Bharatiya Janata Party retained power with a record 156 seats in the recently concluded assembly elections. Now with the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in sight, the Bhupendra Patel-led government made some important announcements during the budget presentation, including focus on infrastructure, taxes, housing schemes in a bid to woo all sections of the society.

Here are Gujarat government’s top 10 important budget announcements:

1) Outline a budget on ₹3 lakh crore, Desai announced that no new taxes will be imposed on the people and changes in the general tax system will be made. “During the pandemic, we had given relief to various sections of society in tone ₹1,000 crore by reducing various taxes,” he said.

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2) In line with the Centre’s vision of “Amrit Kaal”, Desai said “the budget that will determine the direction of the development of the state for the next 25 years.” Desai also said that the government aims to increase the gross state domestic product (GSDP) beyond ₹42 lakh crore.

3) Gujarat government plans to spend around ₹5 lakh crore on development of infrastructure facilities in the next five years. The state, still healing from the horrors of the Morbi Bridge collapse in October that killed at least 135 people, saw a provision ₹550 crore for reconstruction and strengthening of old bridges in its last budget.

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4) As part of the infrastructure drive, the government is also planning to develop five highways in Gujarat to be developed as high-speed corridors at a cost of ₹1,500 crore, Desai announced.

5) As promised in its manifesto before the 2022 election, the government has proposed to double the annual insurance limit to ₹10 lakh from existing ₹5 lakh under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya-MA scheme for eligible families, Desai said.

6) As part of its other promises, the government also announced that it would provide two gas cylinders free per year to the beneficiaries of the Ujjwala scheme.

7) In its budget, the Patel government also included a provision for ₹150 crore for the Sabarmati river bank near Gujarat’s GIFT City, Gandhinagar and said that an amount of ₹5,950 crore will be allocated for the ambitious Narmada project. This includes provisions for ₹1,082 crore for the remaining works of the Kutch Branch Canal (KBC). KBC is hailed as the country’s largest irrigation project with more than 60,000 km of canal network.

8) Desai also announced the establishment of a financial technology center in GIFT City with the support of the Philippines-based Asian Development Bank. A provision of ₹76 crore proposed for the ambitious GIFT City was also announced during the budget.

9) The Minister of Finance announced that a provision of ₹200 crore in the budget covers equity contribution to the Ahmedabad-Mumbai Bullet Train Project under Chief Minister Gati Shakti.

10) As a major follow up to sports, the Gujarat government also announced its plans to set up sports complexes in every district and taluka of the state.