Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister Suresh Khanna on Wednesday presented the BJP government's seventh state Budget since 2017. In his opening remarks Suresh Khanna said that the state recorded a 16.8 per cent Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) in 2021-22 is higher than the national growth rate.
"I am happy to inform that in the year 2021-2022, a growth of 16.8 per cent was recorded in the state's Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), which was more than the country's growth rate," Khanna said.
The Finance minister further said, “In the era of global recession, the growth rate of the state is encouraging. Before 2017, the unemployment rate of the state was 14.4 per cent. Today, it has come down to about 4.2 per cent.”
He added that a 19 per cent Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) is estimated for the fiscal year 2023–2024.
The Finance minister presented a Rs 6.9 lakh crore Budget for 2023-24. Last year, the state government presented an annual Budget of Rs 6.15 lakh crore. 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.
In this Budget, the UP Finance minister said that the total receipts are estimated at Rs 6,83,292.74 crore, which includes revenue receipts of Rs 5,70,865.66 crore and capital receipts of Rs 1,12,427.08 crore.
The share of tax revenue in revenue receipts is Rs 4,45,871.59 crore. This includes its own tax revenue of Rs 2,62,634 crore and the state's share in central taxes of Rs 1,83,237.59 crore.
The fiscal deficit is estimated at Rs 84,883.16 crore, which is 3.48 percent of the estimated Gross State Domestic Product for the year, the Finance minister said.
The UP Budget was mainly focused on infrastructure development, the welfare of farmers, and women empowerment. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has termed this the budget for 'Naya Uttar Pradesh' saying that this will add new golden chapters in the history of socioeconomic and cultural development of the state.