Announcing that Maharashtra’s financial condition has deteriorated to the extent that it could not even afford to go ahead with annual transfers of government employees in the ongoing fiscal, the State’s Finance Department on Monday said there will be no new projects nor will new construction work be undertaken in the financial year 2020-21, in an effort to reduce expenses.
The State government also announced that all ongoing works except pre-monsoon necessities, will not be allocated any funds.
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The government also said the salary for March for A, B and C class government employees will be paid in two instalments. Directions have also been issued to stop new recruitment as well as cancelling purchase orders or new tenders.
Revenues slump
According to data available with The Hindu, the revenue received by the State through non-GST sources in April in financial year 2018-19 and 2019-20 was ₹7,829.44 crore and ₹8,251.2 crore, respectively. However, this year, the receipts for April are barely ₹3,314.42 crore. Of this, the major contribution comes from Sales Tax on fuel which is around ₹2,299.82 crore. Stamp duty from registrations brought in ₹269.35 crore and excise duties another ₹237.5 crore.
According to officials, the State was expecting the revenue around ₹3,500 crore, ₹2,400 crore and ₹1,200 crore in April from sales tax, stamp duty and excise.
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The State has also not received its GST refund worth ₹16,654 crore from the Centre, which was due before March 31. Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Ajit Pawar has since sent three reminders to the Union Finance Ministry seeking co-operation from the Centre.
He has also sought a special package of ₹25,000 crore from the Centre for Maharashtra, given the massive losses suffered by the highly industrial