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| Budget approval for J&K paves way for fiscal, banking reforms | | | 
Early Times Report
Srinagar, Aug 9: The Parliament approved the budget of Jammu & Kashmir for 2024-25 with provision of Rs. 1,18,390 crore. While Lok Sabha passed the Appropriation Bill on Tuesday, Rajya Sabha approved it on Wednesday. This budget provides for revenue expenditure of Rs. 81,486 crore and capital expenditure of Rs. 36,904 crore.
This outlay surpasses the pre-actuals of the financial year 2023-24 by Rs. 30,889 crore. This jump has been possible thanks to the special financial support agreed by the Central Government. This package was necessitated due to the persistent under recoveries in power sector due to high ATC losses and low tariff in Jammu and Kashmir. The UT government had incurred off-budget borrowings of about Rs. 28,000 crore to clear the power sector dues which had piled up over the last several years.
To address these off-budget borrowings, Finance Department had started exercise since the last one year to bring them on the budget books. A detailed analysis of the UT’s fiscal situation was carried out to address the legacy challenges which include high staff strength, low revenue base, and high debt load. In this direction, the UT government increased its own revenues to over Rs. 20,362 crore in the year 2023-24 through improved GST return compliance, dealer registration, and transparent excise auctions. The UT government's efforts to undertake metering and improve collection efficiency enhanced the non-tax revenues from Rs 5,148 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 6,500 crore in 2023-24.Administrative departments also intensified efforts and stepped up receipt of CSS funds from Rs 6,400 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 10,300 crore in 2023-24.
During 2023-24, the UT government also stringently enforced borrowing limits and curtailed the culture of overdraft and Hundis. With close monitoring of public debt, the UT government was successful in tapering down the off-Budget borrowings. The government also restrained the non-priority expenditure through austerity measures and biometric verification of beneficiaries. For the first time in 77 years, UT contributed to the contingency funds created by RBI.
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 the fiscal performance of the UT Government. Union Home Minister and Union Finance Minister personally reviewed the fiscal management of the UT Government.
Considering the challenges faced as also the reforms undertaken by the UT government, the Central Government has approved the special financial support of Rs.17,000 crore for Jammu and Kashmir. 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. The Union Government will 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 Union budget. In addition, a special grant of Rs 5,000 crore is being provided to Jammu and Kashmir.
As part of the special package, the UT government has also committed to discharge its dues with J&K Bank in timely fashion. In fact, the UT government has repaid about Rs. 4,600 crore to the Bank to clear the past dues. It will reduce the fiscal stress of the UT government in multiple ways. The package will provide additional fiscal space to the Government to work towards fulfilling the developmental needs and aspirations of the people. It will also enable J&K police to undertake upscaled investments in modern weapons, police housing, and infrastructure facilities.
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. The UT’s budget for 2024-25 of Rs. 1,18,390 crore provides for the following major outlays -
Major Outlays under Budget 2024-25
1. Rs. 9400 crore for subsidy and budgetary support for purchase of power from the National grid and the Power purchase agreements with power generation companies.
2. Rs. 3983 crore for Construction of roads & bridges under PMGSY, CRIF, NABARD loan schemes& Bridge scheme.
3. Rs. 1875 crore for rejuvenating school education infrastructure and services through funding of Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), career counselling services, and setting up of modern schools for quality education with PM SHRI funding
4. Rs. 1808 crore for strengthening decentralized governance by providing for local area development works of PRIs, ULBs, BDCs and DDCs.
5. Rs. 1714 crore provisioned for tap-water connectivity for rural areas under Jal Jeevan Mission.
6. Rs. 1484 crore for completion of Smart City projects in Srinagar and Jammu cities, construction of infrastructure projects under Jhelum Tawi Flood Recovery Project (JTFRP), construction of sewerage treatment plants in urban areas, and development of new townships for housing.
7. Rs. 1430 crore for comprehensive social security coverage under assistance schemes for Old Age, Widow, and Disabled, and for the women empowerment interventions of Ladli Beti and Marriage Assistance schemes.
8. Rs. 1317 crore for strengthening infrastructure and services in the health sector under National Health Mission mechanism.
9. Rs. 1104 crore for construction of own houses of houseless poor families in rural areaswith PM Awas Yojana- Grameen support
10. Rs. 1068 crore for Provision for salaries, food grains, cash assistance for Kashmiri migrants and construction of transit accommodation for Kashmiri migrant employees.
11. Rs. 1021 crore for transforming agriculture and allied sectors of the UT through the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP), with the five-year outlay of Rs 5013 crore, including provisions for IFAD funded J&K Comprehensive Investment Plan (JKCIP) and development of cold storage and high density plantation.
12. Rs. 923 crore for development and upgradation of Industrial Estates, for providing GST refund incentive and incentives as per the Industrial Policy for industrial units, promotion of trade through JKTPO’s events for boosting investment and employment
13. Rs. 776 crore for equity support for the hydro electric projects at Ratle, Kwar, and Kiru, which would provide stable revenue source and cheaper power.
14. Rs. 586 crore for Universal health insurance coverage for all families of Jammu & Kashmir.
15. Rs. 500 crore for providing of drugs, machinery and equipments for health institutions.
16. Rs. 475 crore for upgradation infrastructure of colleges and universities and for rollout of the National Education Policy.
17. Rs. 518 crore for promotion of Tourism, development of new tourism destinations and new circuits, construction of ropeways, conduct of Shri Amarnath Ji Yatra and film festival and promotion policy.
18. Rs. 445 crore for improving sanitation and waste disposal facilities, IHHLs, CSCs & achieving ODF+ status in the rural areas.
19. Rs. 390 crore for flood management projects of river Jhelum.
20. Rs. 405 crore for schemes for self-employment, Start-ups, Seed Capital Fund, implementation of Mission Youth schemes, and support to self help groups for generation livelihoods.
21. Rs. 179 crore for construction of security related infrastructure, police housing colonies, bunkers in border areas and installation of CCTVs in police stations.
22. Rs. 150 crore for installation of solar rooftops and solar pumps.
23. Rs. 335 crore for creation of sports infrastructure, heritage preservation, promotion of festivals and theatre and development of Infrastructure and initiatives for welfare of Tribals, like tribal hostels, milk villages, nomad shelters, etc.
24. Rs. 100 crore for Capital support for revitalization of Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) and Cooperative Banks.
25. Rs. 500 crore for MGNREGA works at Gram Panchayat level.
26. Rs. 401 crore for development of Dal lake, afforestation, wildlife management, and preservation of protected areas. |
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