CM happy, but Oppn sees no direction

MUMBAI: Though the state budget for 2007-08 is plainly disappointing for his pet project of Mumbai makeover, chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, who loves to call himself the CEO of Mumbai, has lavish praise for his colleague, finance minister Jayant Patil.

Mr Deshmukh’s take is that the Budget takes a balanced view of infrastructure development, irrigation, power and social sectors, and makes allocation for an all-round development of the state.

Efficient implementation of budgetary targets is expected to end the 2007-08 fiscal on a revenue surplus note, with a Rs 510.68-crore revenue balance, the CM pointed out. Mr Deshmukh has underlined the allocation of Rs 4,521 crore for irrigation, which is estimated to bring an additional two lakh hectares under irrigation in the next fiscal.

The outlay of Rs 1,282 crore for the energy sector, Mr Deshmukh said, shows where the state government’s top priority is. Allocations for projects approved by the Centre under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) would help the state expedite project implementation, the CM hoped.

Predictably enough, the Opposition sounded critical of the budget. The state BJP president, Nitin Gadkari, described it as a “directionless, unimaginative and meaningless” document.

“The Budget is absolutely silent on where the state intends to generate resources from to become revenue-surplus. It’s a compilation of old schemes, and areas of concern like farm suicides, regional imbalance and agrarian crisis have been entirely neglected,” Mr Gadkari alleged.

Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Ramdas Kadam said the Budget was “faceless” and exposed that the DF government’s much-flaunted commitment to common man’s welfare is “hollow”. He slammed the lack of provisions for the power sector, saying “they are promising employment through industries, but where will the industries come from if there is no infrastructure in the state”.

On the other side of the spectrum, the Federation of Associations of Maharashtra has welcomed the proposal to exempt essential commodities from value-added tax for another 6 months and the move to exempt the processing of textiles from VAT. Plan outlays for agriculture, education, IT, and tourism had also been hiked compared to the previous budget, the federation said.

Indian Merchants’ Chamber (IMC) has hailed the proposal to develop minor and intermediate ports on the state’s 720-km long coastline. “This will not only ease the pressure of cargo handling at the Bombay Port and JNPT, but also provide a boost to economic growth in the hinterland of Konkan,” IMC president Nayan Patel said.