The previous Congress government in Chhattisgarh had pushed the state on the verge of bankruptcy but the BJP government has set a goal of doubling the GDP in five years, Finance Minister O P Choudhary has said.
Choudhary, who presented a budget of Rs 1,47,446 crore for 2024-25 in the state assembly on Friday, said that in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision to make India a five-trillion-dollar economy and a developed nation by 2047, the state budget has paved the way for inclusive development and economic growth.
"At a time when the country is marching ahead with zeal and enthusiasm to achieve the single goal of becoming a developed India. Chhattisgarh too has set a vision of transforming into a developed state in the Amrit Kaal," he said in a write-up after presenting the budget.
Through its annual budget, Chhattisgarh has laid the foundation of this new era with a focus on the prosperity of GYAN, stimulating infrastructural growth by increasing capital expenditure, and employment and livelihood promotion for youths of the state, he said.
"The development of Chhattisgarh was under the shadow of corruption in the past few years but the power of democracy defeated these negative forces and ensured Chhattisgarh's contribution in the development journey of India," he said.
The BJP-led government under Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai came to power in December after defeating the Congress in the Assembly polls.
"The previous government has pushed the state on the verge of bankruptcy in the past five years. The economic survey of the state has raised concerns as the growth rate remained stagnant, trailing behind the national GDP growth rate," Choudhary said.
"The state exchequer was empty, but taking it as a challenge, the state government has set a mid-term aggressive goal of taking the GSDP, which is Rs 5 lakh crore, to Rs 10 lakh crore by 2028," the state's finance minister said.
Under the leadership of Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, the state government has presented a roadmap towards the vision of taking Chhattisgarh to a new height through the best financial management system, he said.
The budget prioritises "Modi ki guarantee", focusing on capex, technology driven governance, and increasing government's revenue through technological interventions, he said.
The state government has made a provision Rs 8,369 crore for construction of 18 lakh houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana and Rs 3,799 Crore in the second supplementary of FY 2023-24, for women empowerment by providing an assistance of Rs 12,000 per year under the Mahatari Vandan Yojana, provision of Rs 10,000 crore under the Krishak Unnati Yojana to benefitting more than 24.72 lakh farmers, Choudhary said.
With an ambitious target to double the state GDP in five years, Chhattisgarh takes the pledge of contributing more and more to the prime minister's vision by working in harmony with the Centre as 'a double-engine government', he said.
"Through technology-based experiments, we will prevent leakages from the government treasury and without increasing the tax rate, we will create a historic increase in government revenue by adopting a transparent technology-based taxation," he asserted.
The state economy is highly dependent on agriculture and to strengthen the sector the agriculture budget has been increased by 33 per cent with a total provision of Rs 13,438 crore, he pointed out.
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