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Centre unveils Rs 1,18,390 Cr budget for JK

Centre unveils Rs 1,18,390 Cr budget for JK
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New Delhi/Srinagar: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday unveiled Rs 1,18,390 crore budget for Jammu & Kashmir for the fiscal year 2024-25.

As per the budget documents, total budget estimates for 2024-25 are Rs 1,18, 390 crore. “The total gross receipts are estimated at Rs 1,51,526 crore, including the  provision for ways and means advances and over-draft of Rs 33,136 crore.  Given these receipts, total gross expenditure is estimated to be Rs 1,51,526 crore,” read the documents.

Of which the revenue expenditure is estimated to be Rs 81,486 crore and capital expenditure to be Rs 36904 crore.

As per documents, the total expected revenue receipts are Rs 98,719 crore and capital receipts are Rs 19,671 crore.

This was the sixth consecutive budget to be presented in the Parliament for J&K after imposition of Governor’s rule in June 2018 following withdrawal of BJP’s support to Mehbooba Mufti-led government.

After imposition of Governor’s Rule, the budget for 2019-20 was approved by then J&K Governor as head of the State Administrative Council. After downgrading of J&K into a UT in August 2019, all budgets of the UT were presented in the Parliament.

The Centre has allocated Rs 42,277.74 crore to Jammu and Kashmir in the Union Budget for 2024-25, a hike of 1.2 per cent from the Rs 41,751.44 crore given to the Union Territory in the last fiscal.

In the budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Lok Sabha an amount of Rs 40,619.3 crore has been allocated as Central Assistance to Union Territories to meet the resource gap in Jammu and Kashmir.

It also includes a sum of Rs 7,900 crore, sanctioned as advance from the Contingency Fund of India that shall stand recouped to the fund after the Demands for Grants for 2024-25 is passed by Parliament and the connected Appropriation Act assented to by the president, the budget document said.

The government has allocated Rs 279 crore to Jammu and Kashmir as grants towards contribution to the Union Territory Disaster Response Fund to meet the expenditure on account of mitigation of disasters caused due to natural calamities.

The budget has allocated Rs 130 crore to the Union Territory as grants towards the equity contribution for the 624-MW Kiru Hydro Electric Project (HEP), while an amount of Rs 476.44 crore has been granted towards equity for the 800-MW Ratle HEP. Besides, a grant of Rs 500 crore has been provided to meet the expenditure on account of the Jhelum and Tawi Flood Recovery Project (JTFRP).

The Centre has also allocated Rs 171.23 crore to Jammu and Kashmir as grants for equity contribution for the 540-MW KWR HEP, the document said.

It has allocated Rs 101.77 crore as support for the Union Territory’s capital expenditure to meet the resource-gap funding for infrastructure projects.

In addition to the total budget of Rs 42,277.74 crore, the Centre has also allocated Rs 9,789.42 crore to the Jammu and Kashmir Police.

Notably, Union Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, introduced the Budget of Jammu & Kashmir. The Appropriation Bill on the Regular Budget for 2024-25 will be considered by the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in this regard.

Considering the challenges faced and the strenuous efforts made by the UT government, Government of India agreed to provide special financial support to Jammu and Kashmir coupled with reforms to come out of the fiscal stress.

Accordingly, the Union Budget which was also laid before the Parliament provides for a special central assistance of Rs.17,000 crore for Jammu and Kashmir. The Union Government has agreed to provide for the salary, pension and other costs of Jammu and Kashmir Police for which an allocation of Rs 12,000 crore has been made in the annual budget. In addition, a lump sum special grant of Rs 5,000 crore as additional central assistance is being provided in the current financial year.

As a result of this Rs. 17,000 crore of special package, the fiscal deficit to GDP ratio of Jammu and Kashmir will reduce to 3.0% in the financial year 2024-25. This special package will be part of the overall central assistance which is estimated at Rs. 67,133 crore during 2024-25. This unprecedented assistance would lead to complete improvement in fiscal position enabling the Government of Jammu & Kashmir to work towards fulfilling the developmental needs and aspirations of the people, while maintaining stable fiscal health.

The budget makes provisions for the ongoing initiatives for infrastructure development, sustainable agriculture, new industrial estate, PRI level works, employment generation, developing tourism, and social inclusion. During preparation of the interim budget proposals, consultations were held with all the Departments and various stakeholders to provide for ongoing initiatives and arrive at realistic budgetary numbers. For finalizing expenditure proposals, assessment of financing needs of infrastructure projects, social and economic measures undertaken by Departments was undertaken.

The budgetary exercise focused on the imperative of advancing the cause of the greater collective good within the realistically realizable resources. The budgetary estimate for this financial year 2024-25 is about Rs. 1,18,390crore, including revenue expenditure of Rs. 81,486 crore and capital expenditure of Rs. 36,904crore. The major outlays under the budget of Jammu and Kashmir for 2024-25 are as below –

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