Kerala Finance Minister KN Balagopal Unveils State Budget for 2025-26.
Budget
Kalanjoor Narayana Panicker Balagopal, Minister for Finance, Government of Kerala, presented his 5th and last full budget of the Pinarayi Vijayan government's second term in the Kerala Legislative Assembly.
- The budget includes strategic tax revisions, infrastructure development, social security measures, education, and technological advancements.
- The budget for 2025-26 showcases revenue receipts of Rs 1,52,352 crore and revenue expenditure of Rs 1,79,476 crore.
- The total revenue receipts are expected to rise by Rs 19,421.87 crore over the revised estimates for 2024-25. The State's Own-Tax Revenue (SOTR) is expected to increase by Rs 9,888 crore and the non-tax revenue by Rs 1,240 crore.
Main Point :- (i) Social Security Pensions (SSPs), currently at Rs 1,600 per month for around 60 lakh elderly beneficiaries, may see a minor hike. Kerala has the largest SSP in India, spending over Rs 11,000 crore annually to provide a pension of Rs 1,600 per month.
(ii) A major focus on disaster response, with a Rs 750 crore project for the 1st phase of rehabilitating victims of the 2024 Wayanad landslides, which reportedly caused over 200 deaths and significant economic damage.
(iii) Rs 21 crore were allocated for Stroke Care Units (SCU) in Ernakulam, Thrissur, and other locations. With this, Kerala will become the first Indian state to achieve the status of having SCU facilities in all district-level hospitals.
About Kerala
CM : Pinarayi Vijayan
Governor : Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar
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