The speech reflected growing trend in TDP to position Nara Lokesh as successor to his father & CM Chandrababu Naidu. Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan got lone mention.
Monthly allowance for women, housing for the poor, subsidised gas cylinders, increased pensions, and 2 lakh govt jobs feature in both the Congress and BJP manifestos.
Revenue surplus has been estimated at Rs 1,700 cr. Water resources, women & child development, MSME, cow welfare & happiness departments see major hikes in outlay. No new taxes announced.
For FY25, Bihar's assumption of revenue surplus seems optimistic, while UP's seems doable. In Punjab, main concern is that targeted reduction in fiscal deficit is to come by cutting capex.
In his maiden budget, state finance minister Thangam Thennarasu also announced a housing scheme to make the state 'hut-free' by 2030 & project to reduce water pollution in North Chennai.
Data reveals that states with a lower variance between their estimates and their actual expenditure do better in terms of governance outcomes. Spending less isn't the solution.
While a higher capital outlay has been budgeted for FY 23-24, trends of last FY suggest states have underspent on capex & are unlikely to achieve their targets for 2022-23.
For all their colonial underpinnings, postcards from Hyderabad also inadvertently preserve a trace of local memory: a glimpse of a street, a face, a forgotten name.
Indian toymakers are now exploring new markets, but they want govt to negotiate a trade deal with US soon, introduce incentives and subsidies to make the industry more competitive.
The project is meant to be a ‘protective shield that will keep expanding’, the PM said. It is on the lines of the ‘Golden Dome’ announced by Trump, it is learnt.
Now that both IAF and PAF have made formal claims of having shot down the other’s aircraft in the 87-hour war in May, we can ask a larger question: do such numbers really matter?
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