Bold intentions
UP Budget is oriented around on infrastructure, fiscal prudence, and welfarism but politics will test it
On the face of it, the Yogi Adityanath Government’s Budget for Uttar Pradesh is a typical one; like all governments under the Bharatiya Janata Party, this one is also focused on infrastructure and welfare. This reflects Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s emphasis on these twin areas; this has yielded rich dividends to Modi as well as the BJP. Aimed at making the state a $1-trillion economy, state Budget 2023-24 claims to lay “the foundation for Atmanirbhar Uttar Pradesh.” What is conspicuous about the Budget is that it is for a state that has long epitomised all that is wrong with India—industrial stagnation, unemployment, law and order problems, criminalisation of politics and politicisation of crime, caste tensions, communal conflicts, environmental degradation, urban decay. You name a problem, and it is there. For years, politicians, insouciant about the plight of people, fought with each other on divisive agendas. UP was surely not a place that was high on the list of priorities of investors, global as well as domestic. That has changed. The change in the attitude and mindset in the highest echelons is very important, because it suggests that the policies and programmes which reek of dirigisme would not be entertained. For example, it is unlikely that the Adityanath regime would entertain the populist, revenue-guzzling schemes that the erstwhile Congress-led UPA government became infamous for. It may be recalled that in that period a bunch of incorrigible commies, green extremists, sundry bleeding-hearts, and pink intellectuals, as members of the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council, were calling the shots; that’s not happening any longer in UP or any other party of India.
Now there is zeal for economic growth and development, which often gets articulated in hyperbole. Consider the assertions made by UP Finance Minister Suresh Khanna about the gross state domestic product (GSDP) growth rate; in his Budget speech, he claimed it would be 19 per cent for 2023-24. This seems very unrealistic, for the Union Finance Ministry’s Economic Survey this year forecasts growth for the next fiscal in the range between 6 per cent and 6.8 per cent. Even the growth rate at nominal or current prices in 2023-24 is projected at 10.6 per cent. It is not clear what would make UP grow so fast. But it is good to find that Khanna has not gone on a spending spree with the Rs 690,242.43-crore Budget. The fiscal deficit, estimated to be 3.96 per cent in the current fiscal, is pegged at 3.48 per cent in 2023-24. This is also in tune with the Modi Government’s insistence on fiscal prudence. Unsurprisingly, industry has hailed the UP Budget. So far, so good, but how the good intentions and ambitious announcements play out remains to be seen. Would the Adityanath Government be able to withstand the compulsions of electoral politics? Like the demand for farm loan waiver? That will be a big test.
Source: The Pioneer
