STATE TIMES NEWS

SRINAGAR: Union Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday introduced the Budget of Jammu and Kashmir for 2024-25 in Parliament. 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 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, including revenue expenditure of Rs. 81,486 crore and capital expenditure of Rs. 36,904crore.

BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS 2024-25

• Competitiveness Improvement of Agriculture and Allied Sectors project in Jammu and Kashmir (JKCIP) at an estimated value of USD 100 million loan from International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD to be implemented.
• Implementation of all 29 projects approved under Holistic Agriculture Development Programme 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 for creating employment opportunities, especially in rural areas.
• Construction of 6 Grain storage units in 6 districts which are deficit in grain storage facility under
  the Scheme “World’s Largest Grain Storage”.
• 12,000 additional Self Help Groups (SHGs) to be formed.
• 80,000 houses to be constructed under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Gramin (PMAY-G).
• 26,000 hectare area to be covered under Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP)
• New 12 off-beat tourist destinations, 6 each in Jammu and Kashmir divisions, to be developed. Keran as border tourist village, Tosamaidan and Sitharan as circuits.
• 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’.
• Under Jammu and Kashmir Rural Employment Generation Programme (J&K REGP), 1,372 units are targeted to be setup during 2024-25.
• New Start-up Policy to be introduced for creating entrepreneurship ecosystem.
• Two Cancer Institutes’ at Jammu and Srinagar to be made fully operational during 2024-25.
• Enhancing DNB Seats to 400 and creation of ABHA IDs for 1.35 crore population.
• 100% screening of 30+ age population for hypertension and diabetes.
• AIIMS, Awantipora to be made functional by March, 2025.
• New Nursing College at Handwara to be set-up.
• Attainment of TB free status in all the remaining districts.” 2,176 new Kindergartens to be established.
• 18,499 Schools to be provided sports equipments’, 2,584 Schools to be provided ICT labs and Smart Classrooms, 43 Robotic Labs and 30 Virtual Reality Labs to be established.
• Establishment of Science Centres in 100 Schools and vocational Education to be introduced in new 554 Schools.
• 20 national sports events to be organized in 2024-25.
• Placement drives for 1,000 pass outs to be organized in collaboration with big business and industrial establishments.
• New initiative to create ecosystem for promotion of enterprises and self-employment, generate over 5 lakh opportunities for self-employment and expand investments through credit support.
• New age courses to be introduced in 10 Industrial Training Institutes.
• Outreach and counselling activities to be conducted for aspiring job seekers through Model Career Centers (MCCs).
• All persons with disability to be covered under Nirmaya Health Insurance Scheme.
• 11 Shakti Sadan and 04 Sakhi Niwas to be established.
• 7,708 women beneficiaries with establishment of 1,502 units to be targeted under self-employment scheme
• 80 schools to be transformed into smart schools in tribal areas. ” An addition of 3,014 MW installed capacity in phased manner till year 2026-27 with cumulative increase of design energy of 10,714.50 Million units per annum.
• Creation/Augmentation of 38,150 KVA Distribution Transformer, Replacement of 14,000 Ckm of dilapidated LT bare conductor.
• Providing of reliable power supply to the far-flung and remote areas of Gurez. ” 5,000 Kilometres of road length to be black-topped during 2024-25
• 194 new projects sanctioned at an estimated cost of Rs 1023.42 crore under NABARD to be taken for execution during 2024-25.
• Rs 1000 crore new road and bridge projects to be taken up under NABARD loan assistance under RIDF Tranche XXX during 2024-25.
• Completion of 60 ongoing bridges is targeted during 2024-25.
  
• 4.26 lakh households to be provided Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTCs) to achieve 100% coverage under tap water connections.
• Shahpur Kandi Dam project likely to be commissioned which will benefit Jammu and Kashmir with 1,150 cusecs of irrigation water facilities to 32,186 hectare of land in Kathua and Samba.
• Balance work of Tawi Barrage to be completed. 197 minor irrigation schemes to be completed during 2024-25, which envisages creation of irrigation potential of 38,723 hectare.
• All projects to be completed under Smart city mission.
• Western Foreshore Road along Dal Lake, Srinagar to be constructed.
• Introduction of 200 e-buses under PM e-Bus Sewa scheme.
• Inter Model Station (IMS) in collaboration with NHAI to be developed at Katra.
• Finalization of Master Plan of all 78 Cities/Towns.
• Development of Sewerage network of Houseboats in Dal-Nigeen Lake, including sewerage network of hamlets inside lake.
• Implement of Van se Jal, Jal se Jeevan, an innovative water conservation techniques through water shed management approach, promote sustainable agricultural practices and revitalize traditional water bodies, including wetlands.
• Conservation and rejuvenation of Wular Lake to enhance the livelihood of the local people, through ecotourism.
• Completion of construction of 1,500 flats as transit accommodation for Kashmiri Migrant employees during 2024-25.
• Remaining 276 posts out of 6,000 posts under PM-Package for Kashmiri Migrants to be filled in 2024-25.
• e-KYC of all beneficiaries under Public Distribution System to be completed.
• Roll out of Smart PDS in Jammu and Kashmir.
• 4,000 AC agriculture pumps to be replaced by Solar Pumps in phased manner under PM-KUSUM
• Around 04 MW rooftop solar power plants to be installed on the government buildings. 22,494 Government buildings to be 100% solarised in phased manner.
• 5,000 improved biomass cook-stoves to be provided in the tribal areas to reduce indoor air pollution and fuel use.
• Solarization of all routes and camps of Shri Amarnath Ji Yatra.
• Operationalization of Bio-Technology Park at Kathua.
• Young Scientist Awards/Fellowships among the outstanding researchers.
• IDTR at KotBhalwal, Jammu to be completed and operationalized in 2024-25.
• Institute of Inspection and Certification Centre (ICC) at Samba, Jammu to be completed in 2024-25.
• Implementation of Vehicle Location Tracking Platform (VLTP) for safety of women in public transport vehicles.
• Automated Testing Stations (ATSs) to be established for testing fitness of motor vehicles in private sector.
• Construction of Modern Bus Terminal at TRC, Srinagar.