On March 17, 2020, the Centre has proposed Rs. 1,01,428 crore budget, the highest ever budget anticipation, for the Union territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) for 2020-21 fiscal. The budget was laid by Minister of State (MoS) for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur and presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The proposed budget is premised on the commitment to make the J&K “a model of development”.
- The expected revenue receipts are Rs. 91,100 crore whereas revenue expenditure is expected to be Rs. 62,664 crore.
- Capital receipts are projected at Rs. 10,329 crore and capital expenditure is expected Rs. 38,764 crore, 27% higher than previous years’ budget.
Key Allocations:
Tourism Budget: It has been proposed at Rs. 706 crore, which includes three new religious circuits for pilgrimage tourism. The three circuits are:
- Shiv Khori-Uttar Bani-Purmandal-Mata Sukhrala Deviji
- Shankaracharya-Mata Khir Bhawani-Martand (Mattan)
- Makhdoom Sahib-Khanqah-e-Moula-Watlab-Babareshi-Pakharpora-Aishmuqam – This will be the first government-backed Sufi pilgrimage in J&K.
Preservation of cultural sites: Rs 100 crore has been earmarked for the preservation of cultural heritage sites in J&K.
Rural development: An allocation of Rs 5,284 crore has been made for the year 2020-21,which is Rs 1,951 crore more than the previous years’ budget allocation.
Industrial infrastructure: An allocation of about Rs 494 crore has been made for FY20-21 to improve industrial infrastructure.
School and Higher Education Sector: The government has made an allocation of Rs 2,392 crore, which is Rs 1,000 crore more than the previous year’s budget allocation.
Health and medical education: An allocation of Rs 1,268 crore has been made for the same.
Filling up of Vacant posts: For filling up of 50,000 vacant posts there is an allocation of Rs 2,000 crore for 2020-21.
Apart from above, the government also presented a separate expenditure plan of Rs 55,317.81 crore for the last five months of the current fiscal.
About J&K
Capital– Srinagar (Summers), Jammu (Winters)
Lieutenant Governor– Girish Chandra Murmu
