Mumbai: Maharashtra Finance Minister and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar presented the state budget for the financial year 2025-26. While presenting the budget, Pawar said that a total outlay of Rs 36,000 crore has been proposed for Mukhiya Mantra and financial benefits are being provided to 2 crore and 53 lakh beneficiary women under the scheme. “The grants received from this scheme have been used by some women groups as seed capital for economic activities and a special plan has been considered to encourage such groups,” he said.
Pawar further said that the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority and the Maharashtra Marine Board were jointly developing the Wadhavan port in Palghar district, with a total cost of Rs 76,220 crore with 26 percent government participation. “The slaughter port will create an annual cargo handling capacity of about 300 million metric tonnes. It will be three times the current capacity of Jawaharlal Nehru Port. Cargo transport is expected to start from the new port by 2030. Since the port will be included in the top 10 ports in the world, which will be included in Suri in Maharash.”
In addition, the deputy CM said that a third airport was proposed to Mumbai near Wadhwa port. The Mumba-Ahmedabad bullet train station connected to the Samardhi Highway will be located near this port. Giving information about the policy of the upcoming airport in Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar said that the development work of Rs 1,367 crore of Shirdi Airport has been approved and work is going on.
Shirdi Airport has been given the status of major airport in 2021. Night landing facilities will also be launched soon. Apart from this, the work of Ratnagiri Airport worth Rs 147 crore is going on. Along with this, the work of Belora Airport in Amravati has been completed and passenger services have been planned to start from March 31, 2025. The survey and investigation work of the new airport is going on in Gadchiroli.
Pawar said that necessary funds will be provided for the expansion of Akola Airport. Speaking at work on monuments, Pawar said that work on the grand monument of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj and Mauje Vadhu Budrook was in progress. He further said that the government had decided to build a grand monument at the place where Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was under the arrest of the house and further said that land will be provided for it with the help of Uttar Pradesh government.
Giving information about other monuments, he said that a grand monument will be built in Mumbai on the occasion of the birth centenary of India’s late Prime Minister Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The first phase of the late Balasaheb Thackeray National Memorial has been completed and a fund of Rs 220 crore has been provided by the state government for the second phase.
According to the budget due to the work of a monument and women’s training center, pioneer teacher Gyanjyoti Savitribai Phule, Naigaon, Taluka Khandla, District Satara, will be built in his birthplace. Work on the International Standards Memorial of Bharat Ratna Babasaheb Ambedkar was also going on at Inder Mill’s site in Chaitbhumi Dadar in Mumbai and adequate funds were being provided for this.
Pawar said, “We have decided to create a memorial in Panipat, Haryana as a symbol of the bravery of a millions of Marathas, who had sacrificed for Swarajya. With the help of Haryana government, a place will be made available for this memorial.” In a special mention of Gadchiroli district, Pawar said that the district, which was once a Naxal -affected district, was now emerging as a ‘steel hub’.
Pawar further said that a memorandum (MoU) was signed for an investment of Rs 21,830 crore for Gadchiroli district on the World Economic Forum, which was held in Davos. The MoU is expected to produce 7,500 jobs, he said. The deputy CM said, “A network of mining highways for communication in Gadchiroli district is being developed and for this, about 500 crore rupees will be done in the first phase.”
Providing information about the Samardi highway, Hindu heart Emperor Balasaheb Thackeray said that 99 percent of the project was completed, on which a total of Rs 64,755 was spent.
According to the budget, an agro-logistics hub will be developed with this highway and the major facilities of cold storage, grading, packing and exporting handling centers will be provided, which will mainly benefit farmers in Garhbh and Marathwada. Giving information about ‘Mainamant Gram Sadak Yojana’, Ajit Power said that the work of Chief Minister Gram Sadak Yojana -1 was completed and under Charan -2, upgrading 9 thousand 610 km of roads, the work of upgrading the roads of 9 thousand 610 km is planned to be completed by the end of March, 2026.
Under the Mukhyamantari village Sadak Yojana Charan -2, an additional 7 thousand kilometers of roads will be dedicated. Under the main village Sadak Yojana -3, 3 thousand 582 villages with a population of more than 1 thousand will be connected through major district roads, state highways or national highways through 14 thousand kilometers of cement concrete roads. The total cost of this project is Rs 30,100 crore. Pawar said that 8 thousand crore rupees will be done in the first phase.
Pawar said that a project of Rs 8,400 crore will be implemented in coastal districts of Maharashtra to protect against natural disasters due to climate change and rising sea level. Under the Rs 450 crore project “Maharashtra Sustainable Eco-Friendly Coastal Protection and Management”, works worth Rs 158 crore have been approved in Devbag in Sindhudurg district.
Pawar further said that the new housing policy of the state will be announced soon to achieve the target of ‘Housing for All’ in the next five years. On the occasion, Ajit Power said, “In the state, Pradhan Mantri Avas Yojana, PM Jenman has been sponsored at the Center, while Ramai Avas, Shabri Avas, Advas, Adim Avas, Pardi Avas, Atal Bhaka Kamagara Vasahat, Yashantro Chavan Vasava Dharmaveer Anand Digh Ghekkal schemes are being implemented.
He also said that under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Rural Phase -2, out of the target of 20 lakh houses for the year 2024-25, about 18 lakh 38 thousand houses have been approved and Rs 2 thousand 200 crore has been distributed to 14 lakh 71 thousand beneficiaries for the first installment. Maharashtra ranks first in the country in implementing this scheme.
Pawar said, “In response to the demand of people’s representatives and beneficiaries, the state government will increase the subsidy of this scheme by Rs 50,000. Solar energy sets will be installed on the roofs of all these houses.” While introducing a policy for state -of -the -art technology in the agriculture sector, Pawar said, a policy was being prepared for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and state -of -the -art technology in the agriculture sector.
‘Artificial Intelligence’ technology will be used to provide crop planning advice to farmers, reduce production costs, produce productivity, produce quality agricultural products and provide a proper and durable market for agricultural products. In the first phase, one lakh acres of land of 50 thousand farmers will benefit from this.
Ajit Pawar informed that 1 lakh 48 thousand 888 work worth Rs 4 thousand 227 crore is done, which has been done under Jayukt Shivar Abhiyan 2.0 in 5 thousand 818 villages. Pawar also said that all works under the campaign will be completed by March 2026. The Weinganga-Nalgaga River Interconnection Project has been approved in theory. The estimated cost of this project is Rs 88,574 crore and the profit area of the project is 3,71,277 hectares. Six districts of Nagpur, Wardha, Amravati, Yavatmal, Akola and Buldana will benefit from this project. According to the budget, detailed survey and investigation work of the project is going on.
The interrelation project of the Damanganga-Akdare-Godwari River will be available 3.55 TMC water, which will restore 9,766 hectares of the profit area of Jaikwadi dam. This will also benefit 2,987 hectares of Nashik district. Pawar said that the estimated cost of the project is Rs 2,300 crore. Ajit Pawar said in the budget speech, “For the overall development of Scheduled Caste communities, Schemes like Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj Scholarship Scheme, Student Hostel, Bharat Ratna Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Swadar Yojana, Sahitya Ratna Lokshvah Lokshir Annaba Sauth Urban Settlement Scheme etc. are being implemented.
Mahatma Phule Backward Classes Development Corporation, Sahitya Ratna Lokshir Annabau along with Development Corporation, Sant Rohidas Leather Industries and Leather Workers Development Corporation were also implemented. Pawar said that the provision of the deployment scheme of Scheduled Castes has been increased by 42 percent this year as compared to last year.
