12-05-2025
Maha seeks more share of central taxes, revenue deficit grants
Mumbai: The state govt has sought a rise in Maharashtra's share in taxes collected by the Union government from 41% to 50%.In a memorandum to the 16th Finance Commission, the state has also asked for revenue deficit grants citing rising welfare and infrastructure commitments.
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Presenting data since 2021-22, it says, "Maharashtra's budget has been mostly revenue deficit owing to rising revenue expenditures driven by high committed expenditures, rising welfare commitments and revenue receipts growth not able to keep pace with this increase." However, it said revenue deficit was not caused by inadequate revenue effort or excessive expenditure. The revenue deficit has risen from Rs 16,374 crore in 2021-22 to a projected Rs 45,891 crore in 2024-25. Govt has asked the Finance Commission for Rs 1.3 lakh crore in special grants for implementation of the Economic Master plan for MMR, river linking and infrastructure work including the high court complex and eco-tourism projects. Of this, the state has demanded a sum of Rs 50,000 crore for MMR alone. The memorandum to the 16th Finance Commission says services are the primary driver in the state's economic growth with the share of the agricultural and industrial sectors declining. The share of industry in the computation of the state's Gross State Value Added (GSVA) has declined from 35.8% to 24.2% between 2011-12 and 2024-25. Share of agriculture and allied services has fallen from 13.1% to 11.5%. By contrast, share of services has grown from 51.1% to 64.3% in this period. The GSVA measures total value of goods and services produced. The memorandum points out that industrial growth in the state declined from a high of 8.8% to an estimated 4.9% in 2024-25. Growth was mainly affected by the slowdown in manufacturing, utility services and mining and quarrying, the memorandum states. The agricultural growth rate remains volatile because of dependence on the monsoon. "Maharashtra's heavy dependence on the monsoon and cropping pattern favouring water intensive cash crops are a serious concern," the memorandum states. —Priyanka Kakodkar
