The Uttar Pradesh government on February 22 presented a Rs 6.90 lakh crore budget for the financial year 2023-24, setting aside Rs 85.89 crore for the development of state data centres.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that this year’s budget was for “Atmanirbhar Uttar Pradesh”.
“It will prove to be a milestone for making the state's economy USD 1 trillion. In the past six years, the government ensured 'sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas, sabka prayas'. Our first budget in 2017 was dedicated to farmers, the budget in 2018 focused on infrastructure and industrial development, the 2019 budget was for women empowerment, and 2020 for youth power, employment and infrastructure development. Budget 2021 focused on self-reliance and empowerment while the 2022 budget was focused on theme 'from antyoday' to 'atmanirbhar' (self-reliance),” the CM said in a post-budget press conference.
The CM further said that the number of active airports in the state will go up to 21 in the next one-and-a-half years and Ayodhya will be developed as a model solar city.
He also said that a provision of Rs 100 crore has been made for the development of metro rail services in Varanasi, Gorakhpur and other cities. The construction work of expressways will also be accelerated, he stressed.
Also Read: Budget 2023 focuses on urbanisation, expediting Housing for All programme
Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna tabled the budget for the financial year 2023-24 in the state Legislative Assembly.
Presenting the budget for 2023-24, Khanna said that currently three international airports are functional in Uttar Pradesh and two more are under construction in Ayodhya and at Jewar in Gautam Budh Nagar.
“The government has decided to increase the number of runways at the upcoming Jewar airport to five from the earlier proposed two,” Khanna said.
In his budget speech, he also said that an allocation of Rs 1,306 has been proposed for Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS), which is being constructed between Delhi and Meerut via Ghaziabad.
He also set aside a budget of Rs 585 crore for the Kanpur Metro Rail Project in the financial year 2023-2024 while a budget arrangement of Rs 465 crore is proposed for the Agra Metro Rail Project.
The state government has also made an allocation of Rs 3,000 crore for the Chief Minister's Urban Expansion New City Promotion Scheme.
Detailing the newly announced scheme, Adityanath said, “Under this scheme, new cities will be developed and promoted under 50:50 partnership arrangement. This means that 50 percent cost will be borne by the state government while the remaining 50 percent will be arranged by the development authority concerned by way of debts among others. We have set aside a budget of Rs 3000 crore for the same.”
He also said that investment proposals worth Rs 33.5 lakh crore were received at the UP Global Investors Summit which was held in Lucknow earlier this month.
The UP government also made a provision of Rs 150 crore for developing infrastructure facilities in Lucknow. This fund will also be used for the development of rope-way services in Varanasi and other cities.
The state government also made an arrangement of Rs 100 crore for a seed fund to promote incubators and Rs 60 crore has also been allocated for the Uttar Pradesh Information Technology and Startups Policy.
Under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Rural), the target is to construct over 12.39 lakh houses in the financial year 2023-24 and a budgetary provision of Rs 9,000 crore has been made for this. Additionally, a provision of Rs 1,203 crore has also been made in the budget for the financial year 2023-24 for the Mukhyamantri Awas Yojana (Rural).
On the infrastructure front, Khanna proposed an allocation of over Rs 21,159 crore for the construction of roads and bridges, and Rs 6,209 crore for their maintenance.
In the budget, the government also announced a plan to set up industrial manufacturing clusters at six places along Poorvanchal Expressway and Bundelkhand Expressway.
“Four of these industrial clusters are proposed to be built on the sides of Poorvanchal Expressway and two on the sides of Bundelkhand Expressway,” Khanna said.
An amount of Rs 200 crore was proposed for Industrial Corridor in Gorakhpur on both sides of the Gorakhpur Link Expressway. Up to Rs 12,631 crore has been proposed for various programmes under the National Rural Health Mission and a provision of Rs 1,655 crore is also proposed for the Pradhan Mantri Aatmanirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana.
Industry's reaction
Mudassir Zaidi, Executive Director –North, Knight Frank India said that UP state budget was majorly an extension of the announcement of the Union budget as the primary focus was to boost infrastructural capabilities bringing inclusive growth opportunities by offering connectivity between rural and urban areas, and job creation.
“The state government announced a goal to achieve a USD 1 trillion economy. As the state is already contributing 16 percent to the country's GDP, the state economy scaling to the USD 1 trillion mark is imperative to accentuate Union economy entry to the USD 5 trillion economy club,” Zaidi said in a statement.
He added that the government's focus on the development of 21 airports in the state will enhance regional connectivity and will also influence institutional capital inflow to many new-age and traditional sectors.
“Jewar airport will enhance air connectivity for Noida to both national and international commercial capital centres and will also unlock new real estate economics in the city. It will bring Noida at par with Delhi and other cities. It will also help decongest the already strained capacity of the Delhi airport,” he said.
He said that the outlay for metro lines, roads, and bridges will help create new real estate and warehousing hotspots. The Rs 60 crore allotted for IT, start-ups will help create jobs in various strata of the workforce, he added.
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