Budget session of Gujarat Assembly to have 20 sittings, commences from July 2

The budget session of the Gujarat Assembly will start on July 2 and the state's budget for the current fiscal will be presented on the opening day itself, it was announced here Tuesday. The budget session, having 20 sittings, will start on July 2 and end on July 25, an official press release said.

The state budget for fiscal 2019-20 would be presented on the first day of the session by Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, who handles the finance portfolio, it said. Owing to the Lok Sabha elections in April-May, the state government had presented a 'vote-on-account', instead of a full budget, during a five-day Assembly session in February.

Vote-on-account is a grant in advance by Assembly in respect of the estimated expenditure for a part of new fiscal, pending the completion of procedure relating to the voting on the demand for grants and passing of the Appropriation Bill. It traditionally avoids announcing new schemes, sops or taxes.

Now, the government will present a full budget, having department-wise allocations, and propose changes, if any, in the present tax structure.

(With inputs from agencies.)