West Bengal Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya Presents Rs 3.89 Lakh Crore Budget for FY26.
Budget
West Bengal Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya presented a Rs 3.89 lakh crore (3,89,194 crore) budget for the financial year 2025-26 (FY26) in the assembly. In the FY25 budget, the state saw an allocation of Rs 3.67 lakh crore, marking an 8% increase from the FY24.
- The outstanding debt for FY25 (revised) was Rs 7,06,531 crore, while the amount in the FY26 budget has been pegged at Rs 7,71,670 crore. The revised fiscal deficit for FY25 was Rs 73,017 crore, while in this budget, it is estimated to be Rs 73,177 crore.
- While the revised grant-in-aid from the Government of India (GoI) for FY25 was Rs 28,431 crore, the grant-in-aid for the FY26 budget has been pegged at Rs 37,157 crore.
- 4% increase in Dearness Allowance (DA) for state government employees and pensioners has been announced, bringing the total DA to 18%, effective from 1 April 2025, while Rs 44,000 crore is earmarked for rural development and Panchayats.
Main Point :- (i) An allocation of Rs 1,500 crore has been made for upgrading rural roads under various development schemes.
(ii) The newly introduced 'Nadi Bandhan' Initiative, aimed at preventing riverbank erosion in river-centric areas, has been allocated Rs 200 crore.
(iii) Under the 'Banglar Bari' Housing Project, the state plans to construct 16 lakh new houses in 2025-26, with a budget of Rs 9,600 crore.
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