UP Govt presents budget to make state ‘atmanirbhar’

Lucknow, Feb 22 (PTI):
With a target of making Uttar Pradesh ‘atmanirbhar’, the Yogi Adityanath government on Monday presented a Rs 5,50,270.78 crore budget for financial year 2021-22 in the state Assembly.
With Assembly elections in the state less than a year away, the budget includes new schemes of Rs 27,598.40 crore, with infrastructure development bagging the lion’s share. The budget presented by Finance Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna, in the presence of the chief minister, is over Rs 37,410 crore more than the previous year’s budget size, making it the largest fund allocation in the state. Reading out the budget speech from a laptop, Khanna said the target was to make Uttar Pradesh “atmanirbhar” and ensure all round development of the state. This is the Adityanath government’s first paperless budget. The budget for 2021-22, is also the last budget of the present Adityanath government before the next UP Assembly polls. The budget makes a provision of Rs 101 crore for the under-construction airport in Ayodhya which will be named ‘Maryada Purushottam Sriram Airport, Ayodhya’ after Lord Ram and also earmarks Rs 2,000 crore for increasing the number of airstrips at the Jewar Airport in Noida to six from two.
There is a provision of an outlay of Rs 100 crore proposed for “Atma Nirbhar Krishak Samanvit Vikas Yojna” in the budget for doubling farmers’ income and Rs 600 crore for Mukhyamantri Krishak Durghatna Kalyan Yojana besides Rs 700 crore for free water facility to farmers and Rs 400 crore for crop loan to farmers at concessional rates.