J&K Budget crosses Rs 1-lakh-cr mark for 2nd time

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 21

Amid ruckus, the Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the Rs 1.185-lakh-crore Budget for 2023-24 for J&K. In Amrit Kaal, this is the second consecutive year when the outlay for J&K has exceeded Rs 1 lakh crore. “This is an indicator of our commitment to make J&K a role model of development,” noted Pankaj Chaudhary, Minister of State in the Finance Ministry, while moving the proposals on behalf of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Of the Budget, the revenue expenditure will be Rs 77,009 crore and the capital expenditure Rs 41,491 crore.

Some of the salient features include a five-year Agriculture Development Plan with 29 proposed projects at an outlay of Rs 5,012 crore. The government plans to triple honey production in that period, double trout and carp production and substantially increase milk production.

It has also promised to fill vacant posts on fast-track basis and claimed that 33,426 posts have been referred to recruiting agencies while 25,450 selections have been made, including 2,436 of J&K Bank. In addition, over two lakh have been covered under the various self-employment schemes.

The Budget documents stated that last year, economic growth was 14.64 per cent and tax revenue growth 31 per cent. This year the economy is expected to grow by 10 per cent. The law and order situation has also improved appreciably and this financial year the number of tourists was the highest at 1.88 crore.

The highest ever investment of Rs 1,547.87 crore was received during the last 10 months and 500 startups have come up during last three years, indicating a new social revolution, it added.