Uttarakhand’s borrowings to reach Rs 27920 crore
Loan + interest payment = Rs 25772 crore which is 29 percent of total budget
PrashantNews
With its focus on the education, health, agriculture and sports sectors, Uttarakhand Finance Minister Premchand Agarwal on Tuesday presented Rs 89230.07 crore state budget for the year 2024-25 in the Vidhan Sabha in Dehradun with borrowings of Rs 27920 crore.
The economic growth rate for the year 23-24 was 7.58 percent which was slightly lower than the previous year’s growth rate of 7.63 percent. Twelve percent increase in the per capita income was registered for the year 23-24 which was Rs 2.60 lakh as compared to Rs 2.20 lakh in the previous year. The total expenditure of Rs 89230 crore is 15.27 percent more than the previous budget.
For the gender budging, Agarwal said a provision of Rs 14538 crore has been made. The total receipts for the year 2024-25 will be Rs 88597.11 crore. The non-tax revenue has been increased to Rs 24406.43 crore as compared to the last year’s figure of Rs 21383.16 crore.
The government has made budgetary provisions of Rs 1260 crore for three multipurpose projects — Jamrani, Lakhwar and Song which are hanging fire for decades. For Jamrani project on the river Gola, a budgetary provision of Rs 710 crore has been made. For the river Song project in Dehradun, the budgetary provision will be Rs 300 crore. The government will spend Rs 250 crore this year on Lakhwar project on the river Yamuna.
Significantly, borrowings for the year 24-25 will be Rs 27920 crore which will be on higher side as compared to the last year’s borrowings of Rs 22710 crore. The total loan and interest payments for the current financial year will be Rs 25772 crore which are 29 percent of the total budgetary expenditure.
The government has also decided to promote roof-top solar project by making a provision of Rs 100 crore for the subsidy purpose.
For the 38th national games, the government has kept a provision of Rs 250 crore. For the heavy and medium industry, the government will spend Rs 419 crore.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami described the budget as inclusive and development-oriented.