On 13th March 2023, Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister of Finance, Government of India, presented a Rs 1,18,500 crore budget for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir for 2023-2024 in the Lok Sabha.
- Pankaj Chaudhary, Union Minister of State(MoS) for Finance, tabled the budget for the UT of J&K.
Note:
The budget of J&K is required to be presented and approved by the Parliament As there is no legislature in J&K currently.
J&K Budget for 2023-2024:
The themes of this budget are: good governance; strengthening grass-root democracy; promoting sustainable agriculture; facilitating investment and industrial growth; employment generation; accelerated development and inclusive growth; and women empowerment and social inclusion.
Key Points:
i.The total budget estimates for fiscal 2023-2024 is Rs 1,18,500 crore including the developmental expenditure of Rs 41,491 crore. The capital component of the budget of J&K has increased substantially.
- The Government has sought an additional Rs 3,711 crore for the UT of J&K as part of the supplementary demands for grants.
ii.The expected revenue receipts are Rs 1,06,061 crore whereas revenue expenditure was expected to be Rs 77,009 crore. The capital expenditure is expected to the tune of Rs 29,052 crore.
iii.The tax/Gross domestic product (GDP) ratio is projected at 8.82% for 2023-24, which is higher than the GDP ratio of 2022-2023 which was 7.77%.
iv.The debt/GDP ratio for 2023-24 is estimated to be at 49%, and the GDP growth for the UT for 2023-24 is projected at Rs 2,30,727 crore. This shows a growth of 10% over the previous year.
Allocation of Budget:
- Rs 2,526.74 crore to agriculture and horticulture.
- Rs 2,097.53 crore to health and medical education.
- Rs 4,169.26 crore to the rural department.
- Rs 1,964.90 crore to the power sector.
- Rs 7,161 crore to Jal Shakti.
- Rs 2,928.04 crore to housing and urban development.
- Rs 1,521.87 crore to education.
- Rs 4,062.87 crore for the construction of roads and bridges.
Highlights:
i.The 2023-204 budget has assured to double the GDP of J&K in the next 5 years.
ii.While presenting the budget, Union Finance Minister stated that all 18.36 lakh households of J&K will have functional tap connections by 2023-24 and every household will be provided drinking water with a minimum of 55 litres per capita per day and of prescribed quality on the regular, long term and sustainable basis.
iii.She also stated that J&K is set to be connected to the rest of the country through a rail network by the end of 2023 and the government of India is also planning to launch a light metro rail in Jammu and Srinagar.
About Jammu and Kashmir(J&K):
Lieutenant Governor– Manoj Sinha
Bird sanctuary– Hokersar bird sanctuary
Festival– Losar; Matho Nagrang
