JAMMU: Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Friday termed the Rs 1.12 lakh crore annual budget as “futuristic one” and said that the union territory has got almost two-fold increase in the budget compared to that of erstwhile state of J&K few years ago.
He said that a growth-oriented budget is aimed at ensuring developments of all sectors with focus on economic growth and fulfill the aspiration of the people.
“The picture is clear. The budget has almost doubled for this union territory as compared to Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh, when it was not a union territory (a few years ago). This needs to be understood”, Sinha told reporters here.
Sinha elaborated his point by quoting the budgetary figures of the past few years.
“In 2015-16, we had a budget of Rs 51,670 crores, followed by Rs 61,480 crores in 2016-17, Rs 69,728 crores in 2017-18 (when Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh was a state).
“In 2019-2020, the budget was Rs 88,911 crores followed by Rs 1,01,428 crores in 2020-21 and Rs 1,08,621 crores in 2021-22. This year it has gone up to Rs 1,12,950 crores”, he said.
Thanking the union government for increasing budget support, the LG said that the aim is to ensure overall development in all the sectors and journey of continued peace and progress.
“This budget will fulfill the aspiration of 1.15 crores people of Jammu and Kashmir. It is a futuristic and growth-oriented budget”, he said.
The LG spelt out various components of the budgets and said that out of Rs 41,335 crores of capital expenditure, 61 per cent of this amount will be spent on social and infrastructure sectors and Rs 8,085 crores will be spent on rural development.
“The immediate goal is to accelerate the peace economic development in the union territory and make it multi-dimensional”, he said.
Sinha said that the budget reflects the needs and aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and commitment of the UT administration for peace progress and prosperity.
The LG said that GDP for the year 2022-23 has been projected at Rs 2,03,716 crores which shows a growth of 7.5 per cent.
Sinha highlighted the main focal areas of the budget on horticulture and tourism will be the main thrust areas.
He said that tourism has been the backbone of J&K’s economy and we will once again ensure that the tourism sector reaches the same height where it was a few decades ago.
The world’s highest rail bridge will be ready in the Reasi which will connect Kashmir with Kanyakumari by September this year, he added.
