Mumbai, March 6 (IANS) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday presented the state budget for 2026-27 with an outlay of Rs 7,69,467 crore in the state Assembly.
He also announced a crop loan waiver of up to Rs 2 lakh for farmers along with a host of measures to boost agriculture, infrastructure and social welfare.
The budget estimates a revenue deficit of Rs 40,552 crore and a fiscal deficit of Rs 1,50,491 crore. The government has projected revenue receipts of Rs 6,16,099 crore against revenue expenditure of Rs 6,56,651 crore for the financial year.
Fadnavis said the government has managed to keep the revenue deficit below 1 per cent of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) and the fiscal deficit below 3 per cent of GSDP.
As per the revised estimates for 2025-26, revenue receipts are pegged at Rs 6,01,789 crore, higher than the budget estimates of Rs 5,60,964 crore. Revenue expenditure for the year is estimated at Rs 7,55,920 crore against the budget estimate of Rs 7,00,020 crore.
In his 1-hour-24-minute budget speech, the Chief Minister outlined a roadmap for “Viksit Maharashtra 2047”, focusing on agriculture, healthcare, sustainable development and good governance.
He said the state aims to achieve a 1 trillion dollar economy by 2030 and a 5 trillion dollar economy by 2047.
A major highlight of the budget is the Punyashlok Ahilyabai Holkar Farmers’ Loan Waiver Scheme, under which crop loans of up to Rs 2 lakh per farmer outstanding as of September 3, 2025, will be waived.
The government also announced an allocation of Rs 20,000 crore to provide free electricity to farmers operating water pumps up to 7.5 HP.
Additionally, a pilot project using artificial intelligence will be launched in 75 villages to provide farmers with real-time information on weather patterns, crop trends and soil health to enhance productivity.
On infrastructure, the government proposed transforming Maharashtra into a “seamless multimodal hub”. The state plans to develop 1,200 km of metro rail network and more than 6,000 km of expressways by 2047. Dedicated funding and faster execution have also been proposed for the Mumbai – Pune high-speed rail (bullet train) corridor.
To address congestion in Mumbai, the Sewri-Worli connector is scheduled to be completed by September 2026, while South Mumbai will be connected to the Samruddhi Expressway by 2028.
The government also plans to construct underground tunnels in Mumbai and Pune to ease traffic bottlenecks.
To strengthen the startup ecosystem, the Chief Minister announced the development of a Startup and Innovation Centre on 130 acres of land in Wadala.
A new commissionerate will also be set up to provide end-to-end support to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Pune and Nagpur will be developed as major “growth hubs” with a combined investment of Rs 5,000 crore over the next five years.
On social welfare, Fadnavis said the flagship Ladki Bahin Yojana will continue with necessary funding, though a verification exercise has been undertaken to ensure fiscal discipline and target genuine beneficiaries.
The government has also spent Rs 33,410 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin for rural housing, which will now include mandatory rooftop solar installations.
In addition, a new film city will be developed at Ramtek in the Vidarbha region to decentralise the state’s entertainment industry.
–IANS
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