Yogi govt aims for Atmanirbhar UP, $ 1 trillion economy

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday presented the budget FY24 with an aim to lay the foundation for a self-reliant Uttar Pradesh and focus on the all-around development of the state for making it a USD 1 trillion economy. The budget of Rs 6,90,242.43 crore for FY24 was the biggest in the state's history. "This budget was for 'Atmanirbhar Uttar Pradesh'. It will prove to be a milestone for making the state's economy USD 1 trillion," Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said, adding that in the past six years, the government ensure 'sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas, sabka prayas' (Together, everyone's development, trust and effort).

He said his government's first budget in 2017 was dedicated to farmers, budget in 2018 for infrastructure and industrial development, 2019 for women empowerment, 2020 for youth power, employment and infrastructure development, 2021 for self-reliance and empowerment, 2022 'from antyoday' to 'atmanirbhar' (self-reliance). He said that while Ayodhya will be developed as a model solar city, the number of active airports in the state will go up to 21 in the days to come.

For the metro in Varanasi, Gorakhpur and other cities, a provision of Rs 100 crore has been made, while construction work of expressways will also be accelerated, he noted. For farmers, in the past budget, the government gave them a subsidy of 50 per cent in electricity for irrigation and this will be increased to 100 per cent in a systematic way in future. The government will also provide one cylinder free to beneficiaries of the Ujjawala scheme, he said, adding that the first night safari will come up in Kukrail in Lucknow. The chief minister also said the exports from the state rose to over 1.60 lakh crore from over Rs 86 lakh crore in 2017-18. and in the past six years, per capita income and GDP have doubled. Earlier, finance minister Suresh Kumar Khanna tabled the budget in the state Legislative Assembly. Targeting youths, the budget made provision of Rs 1,050 crore under the "Chief Minister Kanya Sumangala Yojana", Rs 4,032 crore for destitute widows and Rs 600 crore for the "Samuhik Vivah" scheme for the marriage of girls of all classes. The finance minister proposed Rs 150 crore for the marriage grant scheme for daughters of poor people belonging to other backward classes. For providing tablets and smartphones to eligible students under Swami Vivekananda Youth Empowerment Scheme, a provision of Rs 3,600 crore has been made in the budget for the financial year 2023-24.

On the infrastructure front, the finance minister proposed a provision of over Rs 21,159 crore for the construction of roads and bridges, and Rs 6,209 crore for their maintenance. Khanna said Rs 3,473 crore is proposed for the work of bridges and roads for agricultural marketing facilities and Rs 1,525 crore for roads in rural areas. While Rs 1,700 crore is proposed for the construction of railway overhead bridges and Rs 1,850 crore for other bridges, the budget proposed Rs 2,588 crore for widening/ strengthening and new works of state highways. A provision of Rs 2,538 crore is proposed for widening/strengthening and new works of major/other district roads, Khanna said. With religious tourism in mind, the budget proposed Rs 1,000 crore for the development of 'Dharmarth Marg' (roads to religious places). The budget also proposed Rs 3,000 crore for maintenance of roads and Rs 2,500 crore for construction from the State Road Fund, Khanna said. The finance minister has set an investment target of Rs 10 lakh crore and the creation of 20 thousand jobs in the next 5 years under the new Uttar Pradesh Tourism Policy 2022. A budget provision of Rs 7,248 crore was also proposed for the old age/farmer pension scheme, while Rs 1,120 crore was set aside for Divyang Pension Yojana. A provision of Rs 12,631 crore has been proposed for various programmes under the National Rural Health Mission, Khanna said. The finance minister earlier told reporters that it would be the biggest budget in the history of Uttar Pradesh. Last year, the state government presented an annual budget of Rs 6.15 lakh crore for 2022-23. A supplementary budget for Rs 33,769.55 crore was presented in December 2022, taking the total size of the budget to about Rs 6.50 lakh crore.