By Japan K Pathak, Ahmedabad, 10 July, 2014

Gujarat related provisions in the Union budget 2014-15 are already discussed in this(click here) article. In another post, Nitin Gadkari has been shown sharing the details on Kandla SEZ development and other aspects of budget.

Presented below is bit deeper look at Gujarat related announcements in the budget beyond the budget speech of Finance Minister Mr. Jaitley.

In Road and Transport department’s budget draft, Gujarat’s Dandi project is specifically mentioned. Also mentioned is grant assistance to States for construction of certain strategic roads in the border areas in the States of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal and the North Eastern States being executed by the BRDB. There’s mention of provision for expenditure on development of National Highways, including projects relating to expressways and 6 laning of crowded stretches of Golden Quadrilateral and 2 laning of highways works under National Highways Development Project (NHDP). Though there’s no specific mention, we believe the 6 laning of Bharuch stretch including a river bridge on Narmada is part of these projects.

Looking at the detail drafts, it becomes clear that a provision for Ahemdabad Metro is Rs. 50 crore. The provision is mentioned as an investment in Ahmedabad Metro. There are also provisions of investments in Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation, Chennai Metro Rail Limited, Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation, Mumbai Metro, Jaipur Metro, Kochi Metro, Vizag Metro, Vijayawada Metro as well as other Metro Rail projects. So though the budget speech mentioned just Ahmedabd and Lucknow, actually much more investment has been planned in other Metro train projects, but that was not mentioned in the budget speech.

Gujarat’s Kutch and Surat are mentioned in the budget speech for setting up of five mega clusters. The Textile department’s budget draft throws further light to this. It says a new scheme is being introduced for setting up of five mega clusters: (i) Zari in Bareli, (ii) Chicken in Lucknow, (iii) Emboidary in Kutch, (iv) Power loom Cluster in Surat and (v) Handloom Cluster in Tripura.

It means the mega clusters in Surat is powerloom specific and Kutch is embroidery specific. Total allotment for setting up all five mega clusters is Rs. 190 crore. Rs. 17 crore sum is specifically mentioned for Powerloom cluster in Surat.

One thing not mentioned in the budget speech is central government’s plan to celebrate next Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Gujarat. Celebration of Pravasi Bhartiya Divas 2015 would be the centenary year for Mahatma Gandhi’s returning to India from South Africa. Pravasi Bhartiya Divas is celebrated to commemorate this event. The budget for Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in 2012 was Rs. 7.86 crore, in 2013 it was Rs. 8 crore but in 2014 it has been increased to Rs. 13 crore. The overall budget of Ministery of Overseas Indian Affairs has been increased from Rs. 97.88 crore in 2013 to Rs. 148.98 crore this year in light of proposed celebration of Pravasi Bhartiya Divas in Gujarat next year in January.

The Rs. 200 crore allocation of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s tallest statue in Gujarat has been described this way in Finance Minister’s speech: Government of Gujarat has embarked upon the mission to build the largest statue of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel. Sardar Patel stands as the symbol of the unity of the country. To support the Gujarat Government in this initiative to erect the Statue of Unity, I propose to set aside a sum of Rs. 200 crore.

Though the budget speech exactly doesn’t reveal it, the demand draft of Ministry of Culture described the Statue of Unity project as a national project. It says: Besides, it is proposed to provide Rs. 200.00 Crore financial Assistance for Statue of Unity during the year as a national project. The Rs. 200 crore allocation has been mentioned under promotion of art and culture more in ‘others’ section.

Now isn’t it a big announcement? The Statue of Unity, the tallest statue of world that shall certainly boost tourism traffic by manifolds in western India has been declared a national project, deserving of course. But that was not mentioned in the budget speech anyway.