Kerala Finance Minister KN Balagopal presented the Kerala governments budget for the fiscal year 2023-24, in which Rs 100 crore was allocated for welfare programs and Rs 2,000 crore was set aside to deal with price rise, besides providing basic Several schemes were announced for the infrastructure and higher education sector.At the beginning of the budget speech, the Finance Minister said that the state has come out of the situation of corona and is moving on a new path. FM said that though the economy of the state is facing challenges due to the fiscal policies of the Centre, Kerala is not in debt trap. Balagopal said that, “a total of Rs 2,000 crore will be allocated to tackle the price rise in the state.” 100 crores will be kept aside for welfare schemes so that the welfare and social schemes of the government will not get inflated and common people will not be ignored. Apart from this Rs 80 crores will be allocated to remove extreme poverty in the southern part of the state.With this, a total of Rs 600 crore will be set aside for rubber subsidy in the state budget, he said, adding that a separate research and development budget will be introduced to give more attention to the research and development sector. Emphasis will be laid on Make in Kerala so that new opportunities for production, investment come in the state and people can also get employment. Besides this, Rs 17 crore has been allocated in the budget for the modernization of cinema theaters run by the Kerala government and the launch of the OTT platform of the Kerala State Film Development Corporation. Content centers and with certification centers will be developed in all ITIs in the state. He also said that the Petrol, diesel prices to increase by Rs 2 per litre in Kerala. Along with this, Social security cess will be levied on petrol, diesel and Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL).
