Maharashtra Budget: FM Ajit Pawar announces ₹1,500 a month allowance to women, 3 free gas cylinders — check details

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who holds the finance portfolio, made a slew of populist announcements while presenting the state Budget for 2024-25 ahead of assembly elections likely to be held in October.

1) Ajit Pawar announced a financial assistance scheme entailing a monthly allowance of ₹1,500 to eligible women in the age group of 21 to 60 years.

2) ‘Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana’ will be implemented from July. The scheme will receive an annual budgetary allocation of ₹46,000 crore.

4) An eligible family of five will get three cooking gas cylinders free every year under the 'Mukhyamantri Annapurna Yojana'.

5) The government will provide a ₹5,000 per hectare bonus to all farmers in Maharashtra for their cotton and soybean crops.

6) The state government will also give dairy farmers a ₹5 per litre bonus even after July 1, 2024.

7) The government has increased the monetary help in deaths due to animal attacks; now, the next of kin will get ₹25 lakh instead of ₹20 lakh earlier.

8) As many as 44 lakh farmers in Maharashtra to get a waiver of electricity bill dues.

9) Ajit Pawar announced that tuition and examination fees paid for professional courses by girls from OBC communities and economically weaker sections with annual family income up to ₹8 lakh will be fully reimbursed by the government.

Petrol, diesel to get cheaper in Mumbai region

The Maharashtra government slashed the value-added tax (VAT) on fuel in the Mumbai metropolitan region, which will make petrol cheaper by 65 paise per litre and diesel by ₹2.60 per litre. 

Deputy Chief Minister and state Finance Minister Ajit Pawar made the announcement during the presentation of the annual state budget. 

“The decision will be applicable only in the Mumbai metropolitan region,” said Pawar.