Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister Suresh Khanna will present the first budget of the second term of the Yogi Adityanath-led Bharatiya Janata Party government on Thursday.
The budget for the next fiscal 2022-23 is expected to be the biggest ever and is likely to be over Rs 6 lakh crore. The size of the 2021-22 budgets was Rs 5, 50 Lakh crore.
Official sources said the budget would be paperless and inclusive and would cater to the aspiration of all sections of society.
The Uttar Pradesh government had on December 16, 2021 presented an interim-budget for 2022-23 in the state legislature, proposing an expenditure of Rs 5,45,370.69 crore and estimated receipts of Rs 5,44.836.56 crore. This left a deficit of Rs 534.13 crore.
The budget is likely to accommodate the promises made by the BJP in its election manifesto ahead of the 2022 UP assembly elections. The budget is likely to be focused on the agriculture sector. The BJP had promised free power to farmers in its election manifesto. Free power to farmers is likely to entail additional expenditure of Rs 1,800 crore on the state's finances.
The government is also likely to announce the creation of a stabilisation fund for ensuring remunerative prices for the crops of tomato, onion and potato. An allocation of Rs 20,000 crore is expected to be made for the Irrigation department in the 2022-23 budget. As per the scheme for irrigation announced by the chief minister, subsidies will be provided for bore wells, tube wells and construction of water tanks.
While the government has set a target to expand its economy to $1 trillion by 2027, data shows that the state has seen a dip in exports, considered a major driver of economic growth and development, in the past three years. Uttar Pradesh has slipped from fourth rank to fifth in 2022 among all states by value of exports, according to data shared by the Union Commerce Ministry.
The data shows UP's share of exports in India was just 5 per cent in the year 2021-22 (April to February). Uttar Pradesh exported goods worth Rs 1,40,107 crore. In 2020-21, UP’s share of exports was 5.63 per cent, with the state exporting goods worth Rs 1,21,140 crore. In 2019-2020, goods worth Rs 1,17,902 crore were exported and the state’s share was 5.31 per cent.
Exports are considered to be one of the major drivers of economic growth and development. The economy of Uttar Pradesh is the third largest of all the states of India and it contributes nearly 8 per cent of the national GDP.
