Kerala Budget 2024-25 seeks to mop up additional resources, attract investment

The State Budget for the 2024-25 fiscal presented by Kerala Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal on February 5 (Monday) sought to mop up additional resources and draw private investment in key sectors, even as it proposed Chinese-model special development zones (SDZ) for tapping the potential of the Vizhinjam seaport project and a new ‘assured’ pension system for government employees.

The State Budget for the 2024-25 fiscal presented by Kerala Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal on February 5 (Monday) sought to mop up additional resources and draw private investment in key sectors, even as it proposed Chinese-model special development zones (SDZ) for tapping the potential of the Vizhinjam seaport project and a new ‘assured’ pension system for government employees.

Mr. Balagopal, who later described the Budget as a “platform for a forward leap for Kerala,” has sought to raise ₹1,067 crore in additional resources through a slew of rate revisions, including that of electricity duty, judicial court fees and other levies.

The Finance Minister started off his two-and-a-half hour speech in the Kerala Assembly saying that Kerala “is on the cusp of becoming a sunrise economy.” But Mr. Balagopal, who presented his fourth Budget on Monday, also mentioned a ‘Plan B’ (which, according to him, is in the works) to keep the State economy and development programmes afloat if the Union government’s “neglect towards Kerala” persists.

The Budget left the present ₹1,600 monthly social security pensions untouched, save for an assurance that the payments will be prompt in the coming fiscal. It also left untouched the levies on Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) and petrol and diesel that feed a social security seed fund announced in the last Budget.

In a bid to “revitalise” the construction sector, the government will undertake works to the tune of ₹1,000 crore, according to the Budget. The Budget has also earmarked ₹1,000 crore from the State’s development schemes to implement proposals from the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government’s Navakerala Sadas campaign.

The government has also decided to raise the support price of rubber by ₹10 to ₹180.

While focussing on judicious public spending, Mr. Balagopal has also sought to attract private investment in sectors such as infrastructure and tourism to enliven the economy. An example is the SDZ for exploring the potential of the Vizhinjam port project. Describing SDZ as an idea conceived in 1970s China, Mr. Balagopal said that in Kerala they will be established with private partnership.