Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel presented the first Budget of the newly-elected Assembly on Tuesday. While the government has allocated Rs 592 crore for a metro train project in Ahmedabad, a sum of Rs 780 crore will be spent to generate jobs, The Financial Express reported.

The Opposition walked out of the Assembly during the Budget speech after Speaker Rajendra Trivedi asked Congress MLA Harshad Ribadiya to leave because he was throwing groundnuts in the House, according to The Indian Express. Ribadiya had started shouting slogans when Patel hailed the government’s efforts to procure groundnut and cotton from farmers at minimum support price.

The state’s fiscal deficit reached an all-time low of 1.42% of the gross domestic product in 2016-’17, the government said.

Major highlights of the announcements made in the state Budget for 2018-’19:

  • The state will spent Rs 300 crore to develop sea plane services and new airports.
  • The government allocated Rs 899 crore to construct Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s Statue of Unity.
  • Four new cyber crime police stations will come up in Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot and Mehsana for a cost of Rs 1 crore.
  • The government allocated Rs 2,800 crore for 10 schemes that intend to provide drinking water to people in tribal areas.
  • Rs 14,895 crore will be spent on river Narmada and other water resources in the state.
  • The government announced Rs 27,500 crore for education.
  • The government announced Rs 506 crore for Gujarat Binanamat Educational and Economical Development Corporation.
  • A provision of Rs 64 crore was made to provide free bicycles to 1.84 lakh girls.
  • “Project Lion”, which plans to protect the Asiatic lion from extinction, was allocated Rs 4 crore.