MUMBAI: Maharashtra Finance Minister and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar presented the state budget for the financial year 2025-26. Presenting the budget, Pawar stated that a total outlay of Rs 36,000 crore has been proposed for the Mukhya Mantri Majhi Ladki Bahini Yojana scheme and further stated that financial benefits were being provided to 2 crore and 53 lakh beneficiary women under the scheme. “The grant received from this scheme has been used by some women’s groups as seed capital for economic activities and a special scheme is under consideration to further encourage such groups,” he said.
Pawar further stated that the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority and Maharashtra Maritime Board were jointly developing Vadhavan Port in Palghar district, the total cost of which was Rs 76,220 crore with 26 per cent government participation. “Vadhavan Port will create an annual cargo handling capacity of about 300 million metric tons. This will be three times the current capacity of Jawaharlal Nehru Port. Cargo transport is expected to start from the new port by 2030. As this port will be included in the top 10 ports in the world in terms of container handling, the state of Maharashtra will emerge as a superpower in maritime communication in the future,” he said.
Further, the Deputy CM stated that a third airport had been proposed for Mumbai near the Wadhwa port. The Mumba-Ahmedabad bullet train station connected to the Samruddhi highway would be located near this port. Giving information about the upcoming airport policy in Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar said that the development work of Shirdi Airport worth Rs 1,367 crore has been approved and the work is underway.
Shirdi Airport has been granted major airport status in 2021. Night landing facilities will also be started soon. Also, the work of Ratnagiri Airport worth Rs 147 crore is in progress. Along with this, the work of Belora Airport in Amravati has been completed and passenger services are planned to start from March 31, 2025. Survey and exploration work of the new airport in Gadchiroli is underway.
Pawar said that necessary funds will be made available for the expansion of Akola Airport. Speaking on work on monuments, Pawar said that work on the grand memorial of the Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj and Mauje Vadhu Budruk was in progress. He further stated that the government had decided to build a grand memorial at the place where Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was under house arrest and further stated that land would be made available for this with the cooperation of the Uttar Pradesh government.
Giving information of the other monuments, he said that a grand memorial would be built in Mumbai on the occasion of the birth centenary of the late Prime Minister of India, Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The work of the first phase of the Late Balasaheb Thackeray National Memorial has been completed and a fund of Rs 220 crore has been provided by the state government for the second phase.
A memorial and women’s training centre befitting the work of the pioneer teacher Gyanjyoti Savitribai Phule will be built in Naigaon, Taluka Khandala, District Satara, the birthplace of her, as per the budget. Work on the international standard memorial of Bharat Ratna Babasaheb Ambedkar on the site of Indu Mill in Chaityabhoomi Dadar in Mumbai was also underway and sufficient funds are being provided for it.
“We have also decided to build a befitting memorial in Panipat, Haryana as a symbol of the bravery of lakhs of Marathas who sacrificed for Swarajya. A place will be made available for this memorial with the help of the Haryana government,” Pawar further stated. In a special mention of the Gadchiroli district, Pawar stated that the district, which was once a Naxal-affected district, was now emerging as the ‘steel hub’.
Pawar further stated that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) had been signed for an investment of Rs 21,830 crore for the Gadchiroli district at the World Economic Forum which was held in Davos. The MoU is expected to generate 7,500 jobs, he said. “A network of mining highways is being developed for communication in Gadchiroli district and for this, works worth about Rs 500 crore will be undertaken in the first phase,” the Deputy CM further stated.
Providing information about the Samruddhi Highway, Hindu Hriday Samrat Balasaheb Thackeray said that 99 per cent of the project had been completed, on which a total of Rs 64,755 had been spent.
As per the budget, an agro-logistics hub will be developed along this highway and major facilities of cold storage, grading, packing and export handling centers will be provided in which will mainly benefit farmers in Vidarbha and Marathwada. While giving information about the ‘Mukhyamantri Gram Sadak Yojana’, Ajit Pawar said that the work of Mukhyamantri Gram Sadak Yojana Phase-1 had been completed and under Phase-2, the work of upgrading 9 thousand 610 kilometers of roads is planned to be completed by the end of March, 2026.
Under Mukhyamantri Gram Sadak Yojana Phase-2, an additional 7 thousand kilometers of roads will be concretized. Under Mukhyamantri Gram Sadak Yojana Phase-3, 3 thousand 582 villages with a population of more than 1 thousand will be connected to major district roads, state highways or national highways through 14 thousand kilometers of cement concrete roads. The total cost of this project is Rs 30,100 crore. Pawar said that work worth Rs 8 thousand crore will be undertaken in the first phase.
Pawar said that an externally funded project worth Rs 8,400 crore will be implemented in the coastal districts of Maharashtra to protect them from natural disasters caused by climate change and rising sea levels. Under the Rs 450 crore project “Maharashtra Sustainable Eco-Friendly Coastal Protection and Management”, works worth Rs 158 crore have been approved in Devbagh in Sindhudurg district.
Pawar further stated that the state’s new housing policy will be announced soon to achieve the goal of ‘Housing for All’ in the next five years. On this occasion, Ajit Pawar said, “In the state, the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, PM Janman are centrally sponsored, while Ramai Awas, Shabari Awas, Adim Awas, Pardhi Awas, Atal Bhaka Kamgar Vasahat, Yashwantrao Chavan Mukta Vasahat, Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Awas, Modi Awas and Dharmaveer Anand Dighe Gharkul schemes are being implemented. A total of 44 lakh 7 thousand houses have been approved under them so far.”
He also said that under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Rural Phase-2, out of the target of 20 lakh houses for the year 2024-25, about 18 lakh 38 thousand houses have been approved and Rs 2 thousand 200 crores have been distributed to 14 lakh 71 thousand beneficiaries for the first instalment. Maharashtra is in the first position in the country in implementing this scheme.
“In response to the demand of the people’s representatives and beneficiaries, the state government will increase the subsidy of this scheme by Rs 50 thousand. Solar power sets will be installed on the roofs of all these houses,” Pawar said. Presenting the policy for cutting-edge technology in the agricultural sector, Pawar said, a policy was being formulated for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and cutting-edge technology in the agricultural sector.
‘Artificial intelligence’ technology will be used to provide farmers with crop planning advice, reduce production costs, increase productivity, produce quality agricultural products and provide a fair and sustainable market for agricultural products. In the first phase, one lakh acres of land of 50 thousand farmers will benefit from it.
Ajit Pawar informed that 1 lakh 48 thousand 888 works worth Rs 4 thousand 227 crore have been undertaken in 5 thousand 818 villages under Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan 2.0. Pawar also said that all the works under the campaign will be completed by March 2026. Wainganga-Nalganga River Interconnection Project has been approved in principle. The estimated cost of this project is Rs 88,574 crore and the benefit area of the project is 3,71,277 hectares. This project will benefit six districts of Nagpur, Wardha, Amravati, Yavatmal, Akola and Buldhana. Detailed survey and exploration work of the project is underway, as per the budget.
The Damanganga-Ekdare-Godavari River Interconnection Project will make 3.55 TMC of water available, which will restore 9,766 hectares of the benefit area of the Jayakwadi Dam. This will also benefit 2,987 hectares of Nashik district. The estimated cost of this project is Rs 2,300 crore, Pawar said. Ajit Pawar said in the budget speech, “For the overall development of the Scheduled Caste communities, schemes such as Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj Scholarship Scheme, Student Hostels, Bharat Ratna Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Swadhar Scheme, Sahitya Ratna Lokshahir Annabhau Sathe Urban Settlement Improvement Scheme etc. are being implemented.
Many schemes were also being implemented through Mahatma Phule Backward Classes Development Corporation, Sahitya Ratna Lokshahir Annabhau Sathe Development Corporation, Sant Rohidas Leather Industries and Leather Workers Development Corporation. The provision for the Scheduled Caste Deployment Scheme has been increased by 42 percent this year compared to last year, Pawar said.