Even as it wants to roll out new welfare schemes, sustain the existing ones and give its employees a hefty pay hike in an election year, the BJP-led Maharashtra government faces a stiff challenge in increasing the exchequer's overall income. The interim budget that finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar tabled on Wednesday indicated that the state is staring at an expected revenue deficit of Rs 19,784 crore in for the approaching fiscal year.

The minister's vote-on-account speech was akin to an election rally speech where he underscored budgetary allocation for farmers with stress on infrastructure development that should attract both the rural and urban masses. However, the curtailment of unnecessary expenditure and ensuring effective recovery of revenue remained a concern, as the annual interim budget of Rs 99,000 crore for 2019-20 was announced.