India, March 7 -- Farm loan waivers and a big push for urban infrastructure were the twin planks of the Rs.7,69,467 crore budget presented by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday.

Fadnavis, who took over as the state's finance minister after the death of Ajit Pawar in a plane crash in January, becoming the state's first CM to also present a budget, emphasised that the Mahayuti government was fulfilling its election promise of waiving farm loans up to Rs.2 lakh. In addition, the Rs.36,000 crore outlay for the state's flagship welfare scheme Ladki Bahin also remained unchanged from the last fiscal.

Over 2.8 million farmers out of 13 million registered on the unique ID system Agristack are expected to get the benefit of the waiver, s...