Kolkata, Feb 15 (PTI) Ahead of panchayat elections, the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government on Wednesday presented a Rs 3.39-lakh crore budget for 2023-24, focusing on farmers, an ailing tea sector, the state's potential as a logistics hub and budding entrepreneurs.

Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said the state GDP is projected to grow at 8.4 per cent and the industry at 7.8 per cent in the ongoing 2022-23 fiscal, both higher than the country's expected growth rates.

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“I propose to provide a Rs 3,39,162 crore budget for financial year 2023-24,” Bhattacharya said, while placing the financial statement in the assembly.

She said an upcoming West Bengal Logistics Policy 2023 will leverage the state's strategic position at the cross-roads of South Asia and Asean nations to create a global logistics hub.

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“It will streamline the sector and help Bengal to secure a strategic position in the global supply chain,” Bhattacharya said.

The development of an Industrial and Economic Corridor with three branches --Dankuni-Haldia, Dankuni-Raghunathpur and Dankuni-Kalyani -- “will provide better connectivity and create employment opportunity for about one lakh people,” she added.

The minister also said a Rs 350-crore fund will be set up to extend credit of up to Rs 5 lakh each to 2 lakh young entrepreneurs.

Though the 5.6 per cent increase in size over last year's budget makes it Bengal's biggest budget in terms of the sheer money being spent, the state's debt is also rising – estimated at Rs 5.86 lakh crore for the 2022-23 fiscal.

The state's high-cost market borrowing to fund the budget is projected to go up by approximately 5 per cent over last year, to Rs 78,946 crore.

Tax revenues, however, were buoyant as the state's economy seems to have recovered post-Covid and is expected to grow to Rs 88,595 crore, a nearly 11.5-per cent increase over last fiscal.

Well-known industrialist and BJP leader Shishir Bajoria told PTI video “it's a treadmill budget”, prepared in haste. He also charged, "There is a huge budgetary deficit …virtually 20 per cent of the budget comes from loans.”

Reacting to the budget, Vivek Jalan, Partner, Tax Connect Advisory, said “amidst increase in tax collections due to increased GST compliance and collections in Bengal, the focus has been on employment and industry.”

Announcing sops for the ailing tea sector and for rural areas, which will be witnessing panchayat polls soon, the finance minister said, “Agricultural income tax on tea gardens for 2023-24 and 2024-25 will be waived. Also, 11,500-km of rural roads will be constructed at a cost of Rs 3,000 crore under the ‘Rastashree' scheme.”

“Allocation towards construction of old and new rural roads would boost the agrarian economy,” Jalan said.

Secretary General of Indian Tea Association (ITA) Arijit Raha said the relief in the bugdet has come at a time when the tea industry was “going through an acute financial crisis, particularly after two years of Covid”.

Besides, the budget proposes full waiver of charges on irrigation water supplied to farms, and exemption of payment of rural employment cess.

"I am happy to announce that my government will bring out a policy for issuance of homestead patta for eligible tea garden workers," Bhattacharya said.

The minister also declared an additional dearness allowance of 3 per cent for state government employees, including teachers and pensioners.

Byasdeb Dasgupta, Head of Economics Department at Kalyani University, told PTI it is a populist budget, keeping in view the state's revenue-earning constraints.

“Expenditure for road infrastructure development and a higher allocation for social welfare schemes along with the announcement of 3 per cent dearness allowance are welcome, and will eventually help boost demand,” he said.

Asked about the high debt level of the Bengal government, he said, “The estimated debt was at Rs 5.86 lakh crore for the 2022-23 fiscal and the same is projected at Rs 6.47 lakh crore for FY24. The increase in debt is not much of a concern in the short-run, as long as the state government's revenue is increasing and the GSDP is growing.”

Anindita Sengupta, Visiting Professor of Economics at Calcutta University, said: “The budget sounds good and has many interesting schemes, including a startup fund and a logistics policy. But, the big question that arises is where will the money come from?”

Reaching out to the fishermen community, the finance minister said a new ‘Matsyajeebi Bandhu' scheme will be launched to support family members in case of the untimely death of a fisherman.

"Under the scheme, the dependent family member shall receive a one-time grant of Rs 2 lakh in case of death of a registered fisherman within the age group of 18-60 years,” Bhattacharya said.

After the budget was presented, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee lauded her colleague, claiming it covered all sections of the society.

"Despite discrimination by the Centre, this state budget has tried to help all sections of the state. This budget is targeted towards the farmers and youth and is aimed towards employment generation," Banerjee said in the assembly.

Meanwhile, the opposition BJP staged a walkout from the assembly, protesting against the CM's statement after the budget speech was read out.

“As the finance minister completed presenting the budget, we left. It is against the norm that on the day the budget is tabled, the CM also speaks on it. But, why should this be termed a walkout?” Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)