Gujarat’s Rs 3.32 lakh crore budget prioritises fintech, semiconductors

Making provisions for setting up a Fintech Hub at GIFT City, a Semiconductor School at Sanand and a manufacturing hub for the space sector, the Gujarat government on Friday presented a ₹3.32 lakh crore budget for the financial year 2024-25.

Tabling the ₹146 crore surplus budget which is 10.44 percent more than the budget for the current fiscal in the state legislature, finance minister of Gujarat, Kanu Desai said that Gujarat has been growing at 14.89 percent over the last two decades and it’s contribution to national GDP has risen from 5.1 percent in 2000-01 to 8.2 percent currently.

The budget made a provision of ₹52 crore to set up a Fintech hub at GIFT City and another ₹100 crore to develop Sabarmati Riverfront near GIFT City. The Riverfront on river Sabarmati is currently 11.5 kilometers long and work of 5.5 kilometers is under progress under Phase-2. The stretch of an additional 5 kilometers near GIFT City will be taken up shortly under Phase-3 of development. The government said it plans to extend the Riverfront to 38.2 kilometers in five phases making it “the longest and most scenic riverfront in the world.”

In collaboration with Micron Technology, the government plans to set up a school for semiconductors at Sanand (near Ahmedabad) to create skilled youth for the semiconductor sector. A provision of ₹33 crore has been made of this purpose.

Under the semiconductor and electronics policies, the government has provided ₹1,049 crore for providing assistance to industries coming to the state in this sector.

Gujarat government has also proposed to set up a “manufacturing hub” in a phased manner at Khoraj near Ahmedabad for development of an “economy related to space sector.” A provision of ₹60 crore has been made to attract the ecosystem of space manufacturing companies by setting up design, manufacturing and testing facilities for payload satellites through the new Space Tech policy.

In the logistics sector, the government has decided to double the recycling capacity of shipbreaking yard at Alang from the current 4.5 million Light Displacement Tonnage (LDT) to 9 million LDT. A provision of ₹100 crore to develop Gatishakti Cargo Terminal at Rafaleshwar and Juna Bedi port to reduce logistic costs. A provision of ₹25 crore has also been made to build infrastructure in aviation sector and constructing new airport/airstrip.

For promotion of textile industries under the textile policy, the government has made a provision of ₹1,600 crore. Similarly, ₹1,550 crore has been provided for development of MSMEs and an additional ₹1,145 crore for large industries. The government has also provided ₹440 crore for installation of deep sea pipeline to drain treated waste water from industrial estates.

Stating that 50 percent of Gujarat’s population is living in urban areas, the finance minister proposed the conversion of seven municipalities — Morbi, Navsari, Vapi, Anand, Mehsana, Gandhidham, and Surendranagar-Wadhwan into Municipal Corporations. This will increase the total number of municipal corporations in Gujarat to 15 from the current eight

The government also proposed to introduce a single emergency number 112 to provide fire, police and other emergency services to citizens through a centralized system. On dialing this number, citizens can expect emergency services to reach them within 10 minutes in urban areas and 30 minutes in rural areas. The Hindu BusinessLine