SRINAGAR, JULY 23:
Lieutenant Governor Shri Manoj Sinha has expressed gratitude to Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and Hon’ble Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman for the visionary Budget for 2024-2025.
The Lt Governor said the Budget-2024 will intensify economic growth, facilitate far-reaching reforms for ‘Viksit Bharat’ and increase the ‘Ease of Doing’ Business’ and the ‘Ease of Living’.
“This budget with focus on employment, skilling, MSMEs and the middle class, seeks to translate the vision of empowering all sections of the population. Nine priorities for generating ample opportunities for all as envisaged in the budget will ensure faster progress and social equity,” the Lt Governor said.
The Lt Governor said the Budget-2024 meets the challenges of 21st century and provides unlimited opportunities to youth, women, farmers and entrepreneurs and lays down plans for prosperous rural India. He said the budget will speed up development of a robust agriculture infrastructure and urban development.
The Lt Governor said the focus on productivity and resilience in agriculture and measures highlighted in the budget will greatly benefit J&K. Natural farming, mission for oilseeds, vegetable production, supply chains and national cooperation will ensure inclusive growth for farmers, villages and labourers, he added.
“Jammu Kashmir has seized the opportunities of the 21st century and our youth are building a proud and prosperous Union Territory. Budget-2024 with focus on ‘Employment & Skilling’ and new schemes will give fresh impetus to youth empowerment and it will pave the way for higher participation of women in the workforce,” the Lt Governor said.
The Lt Governor said the Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Unnat Gram Abhiyan for saturation coverage for tribal families in tribal-majority villages and aspirational districts will be a
Budget will intensify
game-changer.
“Budget-2024 ensures that the system at grassroots is strong and caring and people enjoy the fruits of social justice,” he said.
Budget of Jammu & Kashmir for 2024-25 Introduced in Parliament
Union Finance Minister, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, introduced the Budget of Jammu & Kashmir for 2024-25 in Parliament on 23rd July, 2024. The Appropriation Bill on the Regular Budget for 2024-25 will be considered by the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in this regard.
Finance Department of the UT Government had drafted the Regular Budget for the current year. For this, the Department had assessed the revenue receipts of the UT Government from GST, motor spirit tax, excise, and stamp duty. Further, the non-tax revenue from electricity and water supply, mining royalty, timber sales, annual rent from industrial lands, etc were also examined. The own revenue of the UT Government has been estimated at Rs. 21,860crore.
A detailed analysis of the fiscal situation of Jammu and Kashmir was carried out by the Finance Department to address the legacy challenges which include high staff strength, low revenue base, and high debt load. The high fiscal stress caused by the committed nature of the major expenditures has increased the UT’s dependence on central grants. To address these challenges, the UT government has increased tax and non-tax revenues through improved GST return compliance, improved billing and collection efficiency, increased dealer registration, and transparent excise auctions.
All administrative departments also intensified efforts to harness central funds by enhancing execution speed. This led to a sharp increase in receipts of funds under centrally sponsored schemes.During the last financial year, the UT government also stringently enforced borrowing limits and curtailed the culture of overdraft. With close monitoring of public debt, the UT government was successful in tapering down the off-Budget borrowings. The government has restrained revenue expenditure through austerity measures and biometric verification of beneficiaries. The UT Government also pursued Government of India for increasing central financial assistance.
Lieutenant Governor Shri Manoj Sinha, Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo and Principal Secretary Finance, Santosh Vaidya led the UT’s efforts in this direction. Crucial meetings were held in June and July 2024 in Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Finance to review these demands of the UT Government. Union Home Minister and Union Finance Minister personally reviewed the fiscal management of the UT Government in recent months.
Considering the challenges faced and the strenuous efforts made by the UT government, Government of India has 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 of Jammu and Kashmir for 2024-25makes 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, includingrevenue 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 –
Major Outlays under Budget 2024-25
1. Rs. 9400 crore for subsidy and budgetary support for purchase of power from the National grid and the Power purchase agreements with power generation companies.
2. Rs. 3983 crore for Construction of roads & bridges under PMGSY, CRIF, NABARD loan schemes& Bridge scheme.
3. Rs. 1875 crore for rejuvenating school education infrastructure and services through funding of Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), career counselling services, and setting up of modern schools for quality education with PM SHRI funding
4. Rs. 1808 crore for strengthening decentralized governance by providing for local area development works of PRIs, ULBs, BDCs and DDCs.
5. Rs. 1714 crore provisioned for tap-water connectivity for rural areas under Jal Jeevan Mission.
6. Rs. 1484 crore for completion of Smart City projects in Srinagar and Jammu cities, construction of infrastructure projects under Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project (JTFRP), construction of sewerage treatment plants in urban areas, and development of new townships for housing.
7. Rs. 1430 crore for comprehensive social security coverage under assistance schemes for Old Age, Widow, and Disabled, and for the women empowerment interventions of Ladli Beti and Marriage Assistance schemes.
8. Rs. 1317 crore for strengthening infrastructure and services in the health sector under National Health Mission mechanism.
9. Rs. 1104 crore for construction of own houses of houseless poor families in rural areaswith PM Awas Yojana- Grameen support
10. Rs. 1068 crore for Provision for salaries, food grains, cash assistance for Kashmiri migrants and construction of transit accommodation for Kashmiri migrant employees.
11. Rs. 1021 crore for transforming agriculture and allied sectors of the UT through the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP), with the five-year outlay of Rs 5013 crore, including provisions for IFAD funded J&K Comprehensive Investment Plan (JKCIP) and development ofcold storage and high density plantation.
12. Rs. 923 crore for development and upgradation of Industrial Estates, for providing GST refund incentive and incentives as per the Industrial Policy for industrial units, promotion of trade through JKTPO’s events for boosting investment and employment
13. Rs. 776 crore for equity support for the hydro electric projects at Ratle, Kwar, and Kiru, which would provide stable revenue source and cheaper power.
14. Rs. 586 crore for Universal health insurance coverage for all families of Jammu & Kashmir.
15. Rs. 500 crore for providing of drugs, machinery and equipments for health institutions.
16. Rs. 475 crore for upgradation infrastructure of colleges and universitiesand for rollout of the National Education Policy.
17. Rs. 518 crore for promotion of Tourism, development of new tourism destinations and new circuits, construction of ropeways, conduct of Shri Amarnath Ji Yatra and film festival and promotion policy.
18. Rs. 445 crore for improving sanitation and waste disposal facilities, IHHLs, CSCs & achieving ODF+ status in the rural areas.
19. Rs. 390 crore for flood management projects of river Jhelum.
20. Rs. 405 crore for schemes for self-employment, Start-ups, Seed Capital Fund, implementation of Mission Youth schemes, and support to self help groups for generation livelihoods.
21. Rs. 179 crore for construction of security related infrastructure, police housing colonies, bunkers in border areas and installation of CCTVs in police stations.
22. Rs. 150 crore for installation of solar rooftops and solar pumps.
23. Rs. 335 crore for creation of sports infrastructure, heritage preservation, promotion of festivals and theatre and development of Infrastructure and initiatives for welfare of Tribals, like tribal hostels, milk villages, nomad shelters, etc.
24. Rs. 100 crore for Capital support for revitalization of Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) and Cooperative Banks.
25. Rs. 500 crore for MGNREGA works at Gram Panchayat level.
26. Rs. 401 crore for development of Dal lake, afforestation, wildlife management, and preservation of protected areas.
