Maharashtra facing financial pressure due to new schemes, says Finance dept

“In year 2024-25, the fiscal deficit has reached Rs 1,99,125.87 crore due to the additional budget and supplementary demands. The revenue deficit of the state has gone beyond the 3 per cent mark. As a result of the revenue deficit, fiscal responsibility and new schemes announced by the state government, the government is facing a lot of financial pressure. In such a situation, the state government cannot accept the additional responsibility,” the Finance note on the proposal seeking revised administrative approval said.

The note has not mentioned the name of any scheme. However, under the state government’s ambitious ‘Majhi Ladki Bahin’ scheme, each eligible woman above 18 years gets Rs 1,500 per month in her account. As per an estimate, the government will be spending Rs 46,000 crore annually on this scheme which was announced in the budget presented by Deputy CM and Finance Minister Ajit Pawar. Under Annapurna Scheme, the state will be paying for three free cylinders for Below Poverty Line houses. The government has also committed itself to covering 100 per cent of the tuition and exam fees for higher education of girls from Backward Classes and Economically Weaker Sections.

The Finance department’s note pointed out that a State Sports Development Committee has been established as per the government resolution dated March 26, 2003 under the State Sports Policy-2001. “The State Sports Development Committee sanctioned the out-of-policy proposals of sports complexes and beyond limit fund distribution which has led to the situation (of seeking revised administrative approval), which according to the Finance department is a matter of financial indiscipline,” it said. The Planning department too had made identical observation.

The Maharashtra government has a policy to develop sports-related facilities under the Maharashtra Infrastructure Development Plan. As per a government resolution dated March 23, 2022, the government grant, to build a sports complex with a new administrative approval of which construction has not begun, has been fixed at Rs 5 crore at tehsil level, Rs 25 crore at district level and Rs 50 crore at divisional level sports complex. For sports complexes which are under construction and need revised administrative approval, the government grant has been fixed at Rs 3 crore at tehsil level, Rs 15 crore at district level and Rs 30 crore at divisional level.

The State Sports Development Committee headed by the sports minister was formed on March 26, 2023, which has the power to take decisions on projects beyond the sport policy and those with grants required more than the approved amount. The committee presented the proposal in the state cabinet meeting earlier this week on Monday.

Despite the Finance department’s objections, on Friday a government resolution sanctioned the revised administrative approvals. In this, revised administrative approval of Rs 155.26 crore (which includes post-work approval worth Rs 75 crore); revised administrative approval of Rs 184.42 crore to nine sports complexes sanctioned outside the policy guidelines and Rs 1441.38 crore revised administrative approval to 141 sports complexes were cleared which will be subject to new policy guidelines to be announced.