Srinagar: Union Finance Minister, 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 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 this year 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
1. Rs. 9400 crore for subsidy, budgetary support for power
2. Rs. 3983 crore for Construction of roads, bridges
3. Rs. 1875 crore for rejuvenating school education infrastructure
4. Rs. 1808 crore for strengthening decentralized governance
5. Rs. 1714 crore provisioned for tap-water connectivity under JJM.
6. Rs. 1484 crore for completion of Smart City projects in Srinagar and Jammu cities
7. Rs. 1430 crore for comprehensive social security coverage
8. Rs. 1317 crore for strengthening infrastructure, services in health sector
9. Rs. 1104 crore for construction of own houses of houseless poor families
10. Rs. 1068 crore for Provision for salaries, food grains, cash assistance for Kashmiri migrants
11. Rs. 1021 crore for transforming agriculture and allied sectors
12. Rs. 923 crore for development and upgradation of Industrial Estates

Highlights
#Competitiveness Improvement of JKCIP at an estimated value of USD 100 million loan from IFAD to be implemented
#Implementation of all 29 projects approved under HADP for Rs 5013 crore over five years
#25,000 MTs of Controlled Atmosphere (CA) storage capacity to be added
#Development of Chrysanthemum theme Park at Cheshmashahi, Srinagar
#60,000 backyard poultry units in rural areas
#Establishment of Micro Food Processing Units
#Construction of 6 Grain storage units in 6 districts
#12,000 SHGs to be formed
#80,000 houses to be constructed under PMAY-G
#26,000 hectare area to be covered under IWMP
#New 12 off-beat tourist destinations, 6 each in Jammu and Kashmir divisions
#Revival and restoration of 75 identified heritage sites/cultural sites. Establishment of 8 cultural centers.
#46 estates to be developed to fulfill the goal of ‘Made in Jammu and Kashmir’.

Agencies