UP Budget today: Focus likely on youth, women empowerment

UP government’s annual budget for 2023-2024, with an approximate size of ₹7 lakh crore, is likely to focus on infrastructure development, welfare schemes and empowerment of youths and women in the state.

Minister for parliamentary affairs and finance, Suresh Khanna, will present the Yogi 2.0 government’s second annual budget in the state legislative assembly at 11am on Wednesday in the presence of chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who will also preside over a meeting of the state cabinet to give a nod to the budget.

“The state government’s budget for 2023-2034 will be presented on Wednesday. It will focus on infrastructure/industrial development, youths, women and farmers,” said Khanna on phone.

As Lok Sabha elections are due early in 2024, the CM may use the opportunity to make certain announcements to woo different sections of society including, youths, women, farmers and deprived classes etc. At a high level meeting recently, Yogi Adityanath had indicated that the new budget would be in accordance with the aspirations of people.

On May 26 last year, the state government had presented an annual budget of ₹6.15 lakh crore. A supplementary budget of ₹33,769.55 crore was presented on December 5, 2022, taking the total size of the UP budget in 2022-2023 to ₹6.50 lakh crore. An increase of about 10% in the outlay may take the annual budget for 2023-2024 to nearly ₹7 lakh crore.

Uttar Pradesh is set to get nearly ₹37,000 crore more as the state’s share in central taxes in 2023-2024. A sum of about ₹1,46,498 crore was earmarked as the state’s share in 2022-2023. Revised estimates indicate this sum will go up to ₹1,69,745.30 crore. U.P’s share in the central taxes is likely to be about ₹1,83,237.59 crore in 2023-2024 while its share in centrally- sponsored schemes is also set to go up now. The state’s revenue recovery has also seen improvement in recent months and this may reflect in the state’s budget for 2023-2024.

The UP government has been spending nearly 21 to 22% of the budget on infrastructure development and is likely to increase allocations under this head. It will also incorporate allocations for projects that the chief minister would like to see completed before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. These are likely to include allocations for development of religious cities where the state government has decided to set up pilgrimage development boards.

At the recently concluded Global Investors Summit-2023, the state government received investment proposals of ₹33.50 lakh crore and decided to hold the first ground-breaking ceremony before Diwali this year.