Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy presented the state Budget for the fiscal year 2023–24 with a total outlay of Rs 2,79,279.27 crore, in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday, March 16. Welfare schemes received the lion's share of budgetary allocations at Rs 54,228.36 crore for 22 Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) schemes, such as the YSR Pension Kanuka, YSR Ruthu Bharosa, Amma Vodi, YSR Fasal Bima Yojana, and EBC Nestam for 2023-24.
The final budget for this term was presented by the YSRCP government prior to the 2024 assembly elections. The Finance Minister began his speech by quoting Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore. He mentioned several leaders including Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda, Abdul Kalam and stated that the ideas of these leaders have inspired the state in formulating policies and implementing them.
Similar to the previous four terms, the highest priority was given to welfare programs, the allocation for which was increased by Rs 8,273 crore over the previous year. An amount of Rs 21,434 crore was allocated to the YSR pension scheme. Health and education sectors were allocated Rs 15,882 crore and Rs 31,754.71 crore respectively. The agriculture sector received Rs 11,589 crore, while the Panchayati Raj department got Rs 15,873 crore.
For the fiscal year 2023–24, the minister stated that the fiscal deficit will be approximately 3.77% of the GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product) and the revenue deficit will be approximately 1.54% of the GSDP.
With reference to the sub plans, the Finance Minister said that the SC (Scheduled Caste) component is allocated Rs 20,000 crore compared to Rs 18,000 crore during the previous fiscal. Similarly, the ST (Scheduled Tribe) component sub-plan allocation has increased to Rs 6,929 crore from Rs 6,144 crore in 2022–23. The amounts allocated for the BC (Backward Classes) and minority components are Rs 38,605 crore and Rs 4,203 crore respectively.
The total budget outlay has gone up by about 9 per cent over the previous year. Under housing for the poor scheme, Rs 5,600 crore was allocated, while Rs 3,500 crore was allocated to the Nadu Scheme. YSR Rythu Bharosa scheme was allocated Rs 4,020 crore for FY 2023-24.