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Introduction and Priorities: The Hon’ble Finance Minister commenced the Budget Speech by reciting the Janakalyan Shanti Mantra from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, emphasizing the government’s commitment to the well-being, peace, and prosperity of all citizens of Assam. The budget intends to mirror these values, reflecting upon the progress under the leadership of Hon’ble Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma and marking the fourth budget presentation under his tenure.

Economic Achievements: The speech highlighted significant economic achievements, including the uplifting of 80.36 lakh people from poverty according to the NITI Aayog’s Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index. It noted the massive decline in poverty from 36.97% in 2013-14 to 14.47% in 2022-23, attributing this success to various developmental and welfare initiatives.

Amrit Kaal and Economic Outlook: The Finance Minister elaborated on the concept of ‘Amrit Kaal’ announced by PM Narendra Modi, marking the 25-year period towards India’s 100th Independence Year with a vision for a developed and prosperous India by 2047. The speech outlined the economic outlook, projecting the state’s GDP growth and emphasizing Assam’s contribution to the national economy.

Fiscal Capacity and Development Initiatives: The budget speech detailed the increased fiscal capacity with substantial investments in capital expenditure and externally aided projects. It highlighted the strategy for sustainable development through infrastructural and technological advancements, emphasizing the state’s commitment to becoming self-reliant and among the top-five states in India.

Flagship Schemes and Social Welfare: Various new and innovative flagship schemes were announced, targeting education for girls, entrepreneurship for women, expansion of the Orunodoi scheme, relief for microfinance borrowers, and employment generation. These schemes underline the government’s focus on social security, education, entrepreneurship, and overall societal upliftment.

Infrastructure and Connectivity Projects: Highlighting major achievements and future projects in infrastructure, the budget speech covered sectors such as road construction, establishment of high-performance sports centers, and improvements in public works. It emphasized on creating a robust infrastructure network to stimulate socio-economic development.

Revenue Enhancement Measures: Significant emphasis was given to enhancing state revenues without imposing additional tax burdens on citizens. Successes in domains like commercial tax, excise, mines and minerals, and transport were highlighted, acknowledging the strategic reforms and crackdowns on illicit activities leading to revenue growth.

Commercial Taxes and Excise: The speech specifically noted the remarkable growth in the Commercial Tax and Excise department’s contributions to the state’s revenue. It credited reforms and modernization efforts for the prosperous yield in these sectors, including crackdowns on illicit liquor and modernized tax collection mechanisms.

Environmental Conservation and Climate Change Initiatives: The budget emphasized on environmental conservation and climate change initiatives focusing on afforestation, green energy development, and water conservation projects, showcasing Assam’s commitment to sustainable development.

Budget Estimates for 2024-25: Concluding the budget speech, the Finance Minister presented the budget estimates for 2024-25, highlighting the receipt and expenditure projections. The budget is expected to result in a surplus, indicating the government’s efficient fiscal management and optimistic outlook towards a progressive and developed Assam.

The Tamil Nadu Budget 2024-25 emphasizes fiscal resilience, economic growth, and social welfare. It focuses on infrastructure development, education, healthcare, and green energy initiatives. The budget also outlines measures for revenue augmentation, environmental conservation, and modern governance. Forward-looking initiatives aim to position the state as a hub for innovation and sustainable development here are the key highlights of the Tamil Nadu Budget 2024-25.

Fiscal Strategy and Economic Growth

The Budget for Tamil Nadu for the financial year 2024-25, presented by Minister Thangam Thenarasu, emphasizes a strong fiscal strategy aimed at economic growth and social welfare. With a projected nominal GSDP growth of 15.89% for 2024-25, the budget outlines Tamil Nadu’s path towards becoming a trillion-dollar economy by focusing on infrastructure, welfare schemes, education, and healthcare.

Revenue and Expenditure

The total revenue receipts, including Central Transfers, are estimated at Rs.2,99,009.98 crore, marking a modest increase over the previous year. The State’s Own Tax Revenue is pegged at Rs.1,95,172.99 crore, indicating healthy growth. Meanwhile, revenue expenditure is expected to rise to Rs.3,48,288.72 crore, with significant allocations for salaries, pensions, and welfare schemes.

Infrastructure and Development

The budget allocates Rs.47,681.30 crore for capital expenditure, focusing on infrastructure projects like Chennai Metro Rail, water supply schemes, and road development. An emphasis on green energy, with plans to lead in renewable sources by 2030, underlines the state’s commitment to sustainable development.

Education and Healthcare

A substantial part of the budget is dedicated to improving education and healthcare services. Initiatives like the Naan Mudalvan programme, expansion of Chennai Metro Rail, and the establishment of new healthcare facilities aim to boost Tamil Nadu’s social infrastructure.

Welfare Schemes

The budget includes significant allocations for welfare schemes such as the Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai, providing Rs.1,000 per month to women heads of households, and the Chief Minister’s Breakfast Scheme for schoolchildren, among others.

Disaster Management and Climate Change

Acknowledging the challenges of disaster management and climate change, the budget proposes setting up a Tamil Nadu Endangered Species Conservation Fund and the TN-SHORE initiative for coastal restoration, highlighting the state’s proactive measures in environmental conservation.

Commercial Taxes and Revenue Augmentation

Efforts to augment revenue include optimization of commercial taxes, with an estimated collection of Rs.1,43,381 crore, showcasing the administration’s focus on improving collection efficiency without imposing undue burden on the populace.

Fiscal Deficit and Debt Management

Despite challenges, the fiscal deficit is contained at 3.44% of GSDP, in line with fiscal consolidation goals. The state’s debt management strategy ensures sustainability, with outstanding debt expected to be within permissible limits relative to GSDP.

Enhancements in Governance

Modernization initiatives such as the Smart Kavalar app for enhancing police services, and the introduction of the e-procurement portal for transparency in government procurement, reflect the government’s commitment to efficient and accountable governance.

Forward-Looking Initiatives

The budget outlines forward-looking initiatives like the creation of a Space Industrial and Propellant Park, fostering startups through the Global Startup Summit, and upgrading IT infrastructure, positioning Tamil Nadu on the global map of innovation and development.

Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal said that the present government’s ambition is to make India a fully developed nation by 2047 and all efforts are being made in this direction. While addressing a media delegation of 35 journalists from 19 countries of Latin American and the Caribbean in New Delhi today, Shri Goyal said that the government’s ambition is to increase the current $3.7 trillion economy to be a $30-35 trillion economy by 2047 and to ensure food and energy security of the nation.

Shri Goyal hailed Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s relentless pursuit of twin tracks - strengthening the macroeconomic fundamentals of India to prepare the country for the future and focus on the welfare of the poor pertaining to food, healthcare and education. The Union Minister said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s holistic vision to address the issues regarding welfare of the poor coupled with good governance over the last decade has helped India transform from the 11th largest to 5th largest economy in the world and is on track to become the 3rd largest GDP by 2027. 

Shri Goyal said that the current government has completed a turnaround of the macroeconomics of the country with the foreign currency reserves being 4th largest in the world, twice since 2014, and the currency is amongst the best performing in developing countries. Shri Goyal said that India has witnessed the best performing decade in the last 75 years of Independence with inflation being halved in the past 12 years that has benefited the economy with interest rates in control.

The Minister further said that the government inherited a broken economy when they came to power with a clear mandate in 2014. “We inherited a broken economy, deep in distress and a poor reputation around the world for the India growth story and its ability to play a part in geopolitics”, said Shri Goyal.

Dr. Niranjan Rajadhyaksha, Executive Director, Artha Global was appointed as Member in the 16th Finance Commission vide notification dated 31.01.2024. Dr. Rajadhyaksha has expressed his inability to take up this responsibility due to unforeseen personal circumstances.

Action will be taken to appoint a Member of the 16th Commission in lieu of Dr. Rajadhyaksha.

The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry facilitated the export of bananas from India to Russia via Sea by M/s. Gurukrupa Corporation Pvt. Ltd. a Mumbai-based exporter of fruits and vegetables regularly exporting fresh fruits and vegetables to the EU and the Middle East. 

A consignment of 20 MT (1540 boxes) of bananas was flagged off on 17th February 2024 from Maharashtra by Chairman, APEDA, Shri Abhishek Dev in a collaborative effort with the Central Institute of Sub-tropical Horticulture (CISH). APEDA highlighted the development of sea protocol employed for this shipment by CISH for maintaining the quality of fruit in transit.

Chairman APEDA encouraged more exporters to employ novel methods in shipping new products to new destinations, with APEDA supporting and facilitating these endeavors. He highlighted APEDA’s financial assistance scheme, which now is putting special emphasis on supporting women entrepreneurs. He applauded the contribution of CISH in the development of the sea protocols and congratulated all personnel for a successful flag-off.  

Recently, Russia has shown keen interest in the procurement of tropical fruits from India with bananas being one of them, which significantly is a major Agri import of Russia, which was presently, primarily being imported from Ecquador, in Latin America.

The major export destinations for Indian bananas include Iran, Iraq, UAE, Oman, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Nepal, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Afghanistan, and the Maldives. Additionally, the USA, Russia, Japan, Germany, China, the Netherlands, the UK, and France present India with abundant export opportunities.

The consignment was flagged off under the banner of M/s. Gurukrupa Corporation Pvt., Ltd, the women entrepreneurship is a prolific registered exporter of APEDA. M/s. Gurukrupa Corporation procured bananas directly from farmers of Andhra Pradesh. After harvesting, banana was brought to an APEDA approved packhouse in Maharashtra where it was graded, sorted, packed, boxed and stuffed in containers. The container was transported to JNPT for further voyage to Novorossiysk port, Russia for the final destination at Moscow Russia.

Banana is a major horticultural produce with Andhra Pradesh being the largest banana-producing state in India, followed by Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh. These five states collectively contribute around 67 percent to India's banana production in the fiscal year 2022-23.

Despite being the largest global producer of bananas, India’s exports do not reflect this quantitative evaluation. India’s export share in the global market is only 1% even though the country accounts for 26.45 percent of the world's banana production (35.36 Million Metric Ton). In the fiscal year 2022-23, India exported bananas worth USD 176 million, equivalent to 0.36 MMT. 

Within the next five years, Banana exports from India are expected to achieve the target of 1 billion USD. This achievement will ensure an increase in farmers’ income and improve the livelihood of more than 25,000 farmers, and is estimated to generate employment for more than 50,000 aggregators directly or indirectly linked to the supply chain.  

The increase in the export of agricultural and processed food products is a result of various initiatives undertaken by APEDA to promote agricultural and processed food product exports, such as organizing B2B exhibitions in different countries, exploring new potential markets through product-specific and general marketing campaigns with the active involvement of Indian Embassies with special focus on natural, organic, and Geographical Indication (GI) tagged agro-products.

APEDA is making continuous efforts to promote exports of fresh fruits and vegetables. Continuous efforts in promoting exports of fresh fruits and vegetables especially to long-distance destinations, despite their perishable quality, by the development of sea protocols to retain their attributes is a key goal for APEDA moving forward.