Mumbai: Already burdened by expenditure on populist welfare schemes, the Mahayuti government on Tuesday tabled supplementary demands of ₹11,995 crore in the state legislature, taking the total additional outlay for FY 2025-26 to ₹1.44 lakh crore—the highest ever in Maharashtra’s history.
The supplementary demands—to cover expenditure not listed in the annual budget but approved later as additions—tabled in FY 2025-26 have reached ₹1,44,790 crore, which is 20.68% of the state’s annual budget of ₹7 lakh crore.
The state government had earlier tabled supplementary demands of ₹75,286 crore in the winter session and ₹57,509 crore in the monsoon session. In FY 2024-25, the supplementary demands stood at ₹1.35 lakh crore.
Of the ₹11,995 crore supplementary demands tabled on Tuesday, ₹9,907 crore—over 82%—is for the industries, energy and labour department, while ₹1,431 crore is for water supply and sanitation, ₹222 crore for water resources, and ₹152 crore for the revenue department, among others.
Other major allocations include ₹4,792 crore for solar agricultural pumps, ₹3,113 crore for power subsidies to farmers and the textile industry, and ₹1,000 crore each to MSMEs and grants to beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, a scheme that provides affordable houses to homeless people.
It has also proposed ₹150 crore towards the pending bills of Shiv Bhojan Yojana operators, ₹100 crore for the dues of college scholarships for students from backward classes, ₹355 crore for the construction of roads and bridges, and ₹420 crore for the construction of health institutions and hospitals.
When the late Ajit Pawar presented the ₹7 lakh crore state budget for FY 2025-26 in March last year, the estimated fiscal deficit was ₹1.36 lakh crore, while the revenue deficit was estimated at ₹45,891 crore. The estimated revenue for the fiscal year was ₹5.61 lakh crore, against an estimated expenditure of ₹6.06 lakh crore. The supplementary demands, which amount to 20.68% of the budget, are expected to increase the fiscal and revenue deficits.
“To keep the deficit under control, the government will have to initiate cuts to the budget estimates or borrow more than estimated loans. Since the borrowings have limitations, it has already initiated the cut,” said an official from the state finance department.
Ideally, the supplementary demands should remain under 10% of the annual budget, as they are meant for unforeseen expenditure, the official said. However, in the last few years, they have exceeded significantly. “In FY 2024-25, they were exceedingly high because of the populist schemes worth ₹94,000 crore announced ahead of the assembly elections. This year, there was no such reason for a high figure,” the official added.
In the past two years, the Mahayuti government has launched several major welfare schemes aimed at women, farmers, and the youth, which have put a strain on the state’s finances. This includes the flagship Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, which provides ₹1,500 monthly to underprivileged women.
Rupesh Keer of Samarthan, a non-profit organisation that analyses the state budget, expressed surprise that over 80% of the supplementary demands are to just one department. “The allocation of ₹9,907 crore to industries, power and labour is surprising. This shows the lack of planning and fiscal indiscipline of the state government. The supplementary demands have very little allocation for social schemes, such as scholarships for students from the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. There is nothing for the farmers or irrigation projects in these demands,” he said.
Sachin Sawant, Maharashtra Congress general secretary, said, “If the government is tabling the supplementary grants worth thousands of crores, the session should be called a supplementary session instead of a budget session. This shows the lack of planning and fiscal indiscipline.”