The Maharastra Budget for 1999-2000 contains hefty taxation proposals worth Rs. 720 crores. Even by tightening fiscal measures the final uncovered deficit is to the tune of Rs. 75.31 crores. So poor are the State's finances, that the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance had to raise diesel and petrol prices even after the BJP's government at the centre increased the diesel prices by Re 1 per litre. The price of diesel has been jacked up again by 0.63 paise per litre in the State's budget. Petrol will be costlier by 0.44 paise per litre. Obviously transport cost will be higher and electricity will be costlier.

Fearing a backlash over taxation proposal the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance failed to table the details of taxation proposals, the State Finance Minister who presented the budget in the House avoided the embarrassment to himself by saying that the proposal would be included in the Money Bill. For the State's poor there were promises galore.

Industrial production in Maharastra registered a steep fall from 7.7% in 1997-98 to 4.6% in 1997-98. The State net domestic product in 1998-99 is expected to go up by 8.2%, according to the Economic Survey of the alliance government.

Employment generation, as per the economic survey for 1998-99 was not satisfactory. The average daily factory employment in the State at the end of June 1998 around 1.3 million. It claimed that the State Government generated employment under the Employment Guarantee Scheme.

In spite of the State Government's effort the registration on the live register of the employment exchanges in Maharastra increased by 6.2% or by around 0.7 million during 1998-99. According to the Economic Survey, the number of persons on the live register of the employment exchange till the end of December 1998 was more than 4.1 million.

Over the decades West Bengal baiting has been a fashion of other States whenever the question of industrial development was discussed at any forum. Ministers from other States and the Centre made it a point to raise the issue of strikes and lockouts in West Bengal and they allured entrepreneurs to shift their respective states promising baskets of incentives to them. But how are these states faring now? Look at Maharastra, from the Economic Survey of the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance in Maharastra, it is clear that the industrial relations in Maharastra is far more strained than before. The Maharastra Government in its Economic Survey for 1998-99 has admitted that strikes and lockouts in the State's industries have increased. The number of mandays lost due to industrial disputes was 5.4 million in 1998-99 as against 2.7 million during the corresponding period in the previous year.