Gujarat govt presents Rs 3.70 lakh crore budget, no new tax proposed

Gandhinagar, Feb 20 (PTI) Gujarat Finance Minister Kanubhai Desai on Thursday presented a Rs 3.70 lakh crore budget for the state for the financial year 2025-26, giving tax reliefs of Rs 148 crore.

Also, no new tax was proposed in the budget, presented by Desai in the state assembly here on the second day of its budget session.

Desai informed the House that the budget outlay of Rs 3,70,250 crore for 2025-26 indicates an increase of Rs 37,785 crore, or 11.3 per cent, compared to the previous fiscal.

The state government proposed a tax relief of Rs 148 crore in the form of reduction in stamp duty on mortgage deeds and on motor vehicle tax on electric vehicles.

In his budgetary address, Desai announced a host of new schemes and projects and said the budget was based on five pillars - social security, human resource development, infrastructure development, green growth and development of economic activities.

Desai said the state government has prepared a roadmap for 'Viksit Gujarat 2047' to realize Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of 'Viksit Bharat' by 2047.

"To transform this vision into reality, we are committed to formulating and implementing well-planned projects and public welfare schemes. For this, I propose to create a Rs 50,000 crore Viksit Gujarat Fund over the next five years. I propose an allocation of Rs 5,000 crore (under it) in this budget," he said.

To transform Gujarat into a developed and prosperous state, six growth hubs, including Surat Economic Region will be developed, he said.

For this, regional economic plans for Ahmedabad, Vadodara., Rajkot, Coastal Saurashtra region and Kutch are being prepared to facilitate the comprehensive and balanced economic development of the state, announced Desai.

"To realize the potential of the service sector of the state, I propose to set up a new Commissionerate of Services. A master plan aimed at optimizing water storage of the rivers of the state and maximizing groundwater recharge will be developed based on techno-feasibility study across 185 river basins," said Desai.

Under the 'Garvi Gujarat High Speed Corridor' project, 12 new high-speed corridors of 1,367 kilometres will be developed, announced Desai.

Two greenfield expressways will be developed in Gujarat - the 'Namo Shakti Expressway' connecting Banaskantha to Saurashtra's coastal areas, and the 'Somnath-Dwarka Expressway' from Ahmedabad to Rajkot, with an extension to pilgrimage centres including Dwarka, Somnath and Porbandar.

Desai said the expansion of airports at Surat, Vadodara, Bhavnagar and Porbandar will be undertaken, while a greenfield airport will be developed at Dahod.

In the budget, the state government also announced it will establish the Gujarat Reforms Commission to bring necessary reforms in the administrative procedures and integrating new technologies. PTI PJT PD GK BNM

Source: PTI