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The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday set aside ₹500 crore for an airport in Ayodhya and ₹200 crore for the beautification of Varanasi’s Kashi Vishwanath temple in a Budget that is also big on road and metro rail projects.
The Budget, presented in the State Assembly by Finance Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna, provides ₹2,000 crore for the new airport project at Jewar near Delhi. The Kanpur Metro Rail Project gets ₹358 crore and ₹286 crore has been allocated for the metro rail in Agra. It has earmarked ₹200 crore more for metro rail projects in Gorakhpur and other cities. The 2020-21 Budget sets a target for the construction of four lakh houses for weaker sections within a year and lists schemes to help the youth make a living.
Addressing reporters later, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath called the Budget — the fourth presented by his government — historic, growth-oriented and people-friendly. Opposition parties, however, termed it ‘directionless and a farce’.
The ₹5.12-lakh-crore Budget is bigger than last year’s by ₹33,159 crore. It has provisions for new schemes worth ₹10,967 crore, Khanna said.
In addition, it will spend ₹85 crore for the development of the pilgrim city as a tourist spot and ₹10 crore for the renovation of the Tulsi Smarak Bhawan , dedicated to the saint-composer of Ramcharitmanas . The Budget allocates ₹200 crore for the expansion and beautification of Kashi Vishwanath temple in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Varanasi constituency. Another ₹180 crore will go to set up a cultural centre in the holy city.
The government announced two new schemes to provide employment for the youth — the Chief Minister’s Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (CMAPS) and the Yuva Udhyamita Vikas Abhiyan (YUVA). It provides ₹2,000 crore for the 637-km ‘Ganga Expressway’ from Meerut to Allahabad, which the government says will be the longest in the country.
The Noida International Greenfield Airport at Jewar near Delhi has been allotted ₹2,000 crore, which is about half of the estimated cost of its first phase of construction. The airport is expected to go operational by 2023,” Khanna said in his speech.
The Budget estimates total receipts of ₹5,00,558 crore -- ₹4,22,567 crore through revenue and ₹77,990 crore through capital receipts. It estimates a deficit of ₹12,302 crore.
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