Maharashtra Aims to Be India's First $1 Trillion Economy by 2029, Says Fadnavis

He said the size of the state economy is $660 billion in 2025-26 and it has to add another $340 billion to become one trillion dollar economy.

He added that the state has added a record $55 billion in one year reiterating that state will achieve one trillion dollar economy status by 2029 or maximum by 2030-31 due to slippage in growth due to war or El Nino like incidents.

In his reply in the state Assembly on the annual budget for 2026-27, the chief minister has addressed the doubts raised by opposition parties over state's chase to become a trillion dollar economy by 2030 and five trillion dollar economy by 2025-26.

Fadnavis emphasised that while the 2026-27 budget is expansionary, it remains strictly within the framework of fiscal discipline and fiscal prudence. He countered opposition concerns regarding the state's debt levels by highlighting several key markers of financial health.

The Chief Minister noted that the Fiscal Deficit has been maintained at 2.88 per cent of the GSDP. This is well within the 3 per cent limit mandated by the Fiscal Responsibility and Budgetary Management (FRBM) Act, signaling a commitment to sustainable borrowing. He pointed out that the Revenue Deficit is projected at approximately 0.37% of the GSDP.

He argued that keeping this figure below 1 per cent ensures that the state is not borrowing excessively to fund daily operational expenses, but rather focusing on capital creation.

He clarified that Maharashtra's debt-to-GSDP ratio of 18.2 percent which is below 25 percent of GSDP. Maharashtra remains among the healthiest in the country compared to other large industrialized states like Tamil Nadu 25.6 per cent, Andhra Pradesh 33 percent, Madhya Pradesh 30 per cent, Telangana 23.8 per cent and Karnataka 23 per cent. He admitted that Gujarat and Odisha are two states whose debt to GSDP rate is low at 15.3 per cent 13.1 percent respectively.

He said that state's debt was estimated at Rs 9.32 lakh crore in 2025-26 adding the state's borrowing capacity is backed by a robust and growing GSDP.

CM Fadnavis while painting healthy status of the state economy said that the revenue receipts has been estimated at Rs 6,16,000 crore in 2025-26 against Rs 1,55,000 crore in 2013-14 while capital expenditure has been of the order of Rs 2 lakh crore against Rs 25,129 crore during the same period. He claimed that the state has enough room to raise the debt considering the growth of the economy.

CM Fadnavis said that Maharashtra's GSDP rate was estimated at 7.9 percent which is more than that the county's GDP in 2025-26. "Maharashtra is number one in attracting FDI, in start ups, Unicons, forest cover and GST collection," he added.

He admitted that the state ranks fifth in per capita income which is projected at Rs 3,47,903 in 2025-26 against Rs 3,17,000 in 2024-25. "Maharashtra economy is bigger in size in 35 countries including Austria, Thailand, the Philippines among others," he said.

- IANS