The budget for Maharashtra for the financial year 2026-27 will be presented in the Assembly on Friday (6 March). This budget will be presented by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Actually Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash in Baramati. He had the responsibility of the Finance Department of Maharashtra.

In such a situation, this responsibility now lies with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. This time the budget will be presented by the Chief Minister himself. Many important financial allocations are expected in the budget of Maharashtra, in which the focus is especially on the ‘Girl Sister’ scheme.

Speculation on increasing the monthly assistance amount

There is speculation that the government may announce an increase in the monthly assistance amount under this scheme to Rs 2,100. However, there has been no official confirmation yet. In the last budget, the government had allocated about Rs 36,000 crore for this scheme. Now the government is expected to announce the required funds for the coming year. Apart from welfare schemes for women, the budget may also include important decisions related to farmers, including announcements of loan waivers and other relief measures.

Decision regarding girl sister scheme not implemented

The Girl Sister Scheme has been in the news ever since the government first announced increasing the monthly benefit to Rs 2,100. Even after two years have passed, this decision has not yet been implemented. As a result, now all eyes are on the upcoming budget to see if this much-awaited announcement will finally be made.

However, according to the Pre-Budget Economic Survey presented in the Maharashtra Assembly on Thursday, Maharashtra’s public debt will increase to Rs 9.32 lakh crore in 2025-26, while the state has projected a strong economic growth of 7.9 percent, which is much higher than the national estimate.

Minister of State for Finance Ashish Jaiswal presented the survey

The survey presented by Minister of State for Finance Ashish Jaiswal shows a picture of strong growth in GST inflows and good sentiment in the market. Besides, emphasis has also been laid on the increasing burden of borrowing. The outstanding government debt is expected to increase from Rs 8.39 lakh crore in 2024-25 to 18.3 per cent, which will bring the debt-to-GSDP ratio in the range of 17-18 per cent.

Despite the increase in debt, the survey emphasizes fiscal discipline, estimating fiscal deficit at 2.7 per cent of GSDP and revenue deficit at just 0.9 per cent, comfortably below the 3 per cent limit set by Maharashtra FRBM rules.