Punjab Budget: FM Harpaal Cheema announces Rs 2,04,918 crore budget for fiscal 2024-25
Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], March 5 (ANI): State Finance Minister Harpaal Singh Cheema presented the Budget 2024-25 in the legislative assembly on Tuesday, quoting the total expenditure for the fiscal year 2024-25 at Rs 2,04,918 crore while outlining a comprehensive plan aimed at driving growth, development, and prosperity across various sectors of the state’s economy.
In his budget speech, Finance Minister Cheema highlighted Punjab’s ‘robust’ economic performance, saying that the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) is projected to grow at 9 per cent to Rs 8,02,701 crore in the upcoming fiscal.
The government expects the state to maintain a steady growth trajectory, with the GSDP estimated to be Rs 7,36,423 crore in the current year, reflecting a growth rate of 9.41 per cent.
Additionally, the Effective Revenue Deficit and Fiscal Deficit are expected to improve to 2.77 per cent and 3.80 per cent, respectively, from the previous figures of 3.13 per cent and 4.12 per cent.
“In the current year, a special “Mission Unnat Kisan” has been launched to provide timely technical information to the farmers for proper cultivation of cotton. Our Government has also provided 33 persubsidy on cotton seed to approx. 87,000 farmers,” Cheema said.
She also announced an outlay of Rs 13,784 crore for the next financial year to bolster agriculture and allied sectors, in line with the government’s commitment to support farmers and rural development.
“The aim is not a literate Punjab but an educated Punjab. We don’t want to foster only the ability to read and write in our children, but to instill knowledge, morality and sensibility in them.
Regularization of 12,316 teachers, recruitment of 9,518 teachers, skill upgradation of Principals and Headmasters, improvement of security and safety measures in schools, installation of more than 12,000 internet connections, around 4,300 toilets in the schools repaired and timely delivery of books to our students, among others have been our hallmarks,” the minister said.
