India, Dec. 9 -- After tabling a supplementary budget of Rs.75,286 on Monday-necessitated by spends on populist schemes such as Ladki Bahin-the state government is now on the verge of crossing the set norms for supplementary budget expenditure. The staggeringly high amount, which is 17.52 % of the annual budget, is the second highest ever tabled at one go in Maharashtra's history, and is against the legislative norm of keeping a supplementary budget below 10%.

A supplementary budget is the estimate for expenditure outside the annual budget presented in March, and is meant for unforeseen expenses. The budget presented on Monday by finance minister Ajit Pawar, however, has provisions for many ongoing schemes such as Ladki Bahin and expendi...