Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna on today, February 22, tabled the development-oriented Budget 2023-24 in the State Legislative Assembly with a spotlight on infrastructure.
Targeting youth, The budget allocated Rs. 1,050 crore for the "Chief Minister Kanya Sumangala Yojana," Rs. 4,032 crore for widows in need, and Rs. 600 crore for the "Samuhik Vivah" scheme for the marriage of women from all social strata.
The Finance Minister proposed Rs. 150 crore on a marriage grant programme for the daughters of low-income individuals from other underprivileged classes. A provision of Rs. 3,600 crore has been allocated in the budget for the fiscal year 2023–2024 for the purchase of tablets and smartphones for qualified students under the Swami Vivekananda Youth Empowerment Plan.
On the infrastructure front, the Finance Minister suggested setting aside approximately Rs. 21,159 crore for building roads and bridges and Rs. 6,209 crore for maintaining them.
The Finance Minister said, a total of Rs. 3,473 crore and Rs. 1,525 crore, respectively, are proposed for the construction of bridges and roads for agricultural marketing facilities. While Rs. 1,700 crore and Rs. 1,850 crore are recommended for the construction of railway overhead bridges and other bridges, respectively, the budget suggested Rs. 2,588 crore for State highway widening, strengthening, and construction projects. He said, a budget of Rs. 2,538 crore is planned for new, widening, and strengthening projects on main and other district roads.
The budget included Rs. 1,000 crore for the development of "Dharmarth Marg" with religious tourism in mind (roads to religious places).The budget also included Rs. 3,000 crore for road maintenance and Rs. 2,500 crore for road building from the State Road Fund.
Under the new Uttar Pradesh Touism Policy 2022, the Finance Minister has set an investment goal of Rs. 10 lakh crore and the creation of 20 000 jobs over the next five years. The budget proposal also included Rs. 7,248 crore for the old age/farmer pension programme and Rs. 1,120 crore for the Divyang Pension Yojana.
The FM aid, a budget of Rs.12,631 crore has been suggested for a number of National Rural Health Mission programmes. The Finance Minister earlier said reporters that it would be the biggest budget in the history of Uttar Pradesh.
The State government announced a Rs. 6.15 lakh crore yearly budget for 2022–2023 last year. In December 2022, a supplemental budget totaling Rs. 33,769.55 crore was published, bringing the budget's overall size to around Rs. 6.50 lakh crore.
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