Indus Valley Times

Almost all pre-poll promises, including Subhadra, accommodated

Special focus given on agriculture, infrastructure, welfare and Odia Asmita

By Nalini Sahu

Bhubaneswar, July 25: The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Odisha government on Thursday presented Rs.2.65 lakh crore budget  for the financial year 2024-25 with more special focus on agriculture, infrastructure, welfare and Odia Asmita (pride).

Presenting the budget, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, who also holds the finance portfolio, proposed the administrative expenditure at Rs 97, 725 crore and the programme expenditure of Rs 1,55,000 crore.

The budget, which saw a 15 per cent increase in total outlay, marked the government accommodating the major pre-poll promises of the BJP. The CM allocated funds for the much talked about Subhadra Yojana, paying Rs 800 extra per quintal of paddy on and above the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 2,300 and hiking in the social security pensions for old age people, widows and differently-abled persons.

There has been an outlay of Rs 10,000 crore for Subhadra Yojana under which a woman of a family will be given a cash voucher of Rs 50,000 to be spent in two year’s time. This scheme had proved to be a game-changer for the BJP in the last elections as smashed the previous Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government’s women vote bank. During election campaigns in the state, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that the BJP will roll out Subhadra Yojana if it came to power in the state.

The budget also saw the government allocating Rs 1,166 crore for Lakhpati Yojana, a scheme that proposed by the BJP in its election manifesto.

The budget proposed Rs 3,056 crore outlay for Gopabandhu Jana Arogya Yojana, a scheme which is seen as a replacement of the previous BJD government’s Biju Swasthya Kalayan Yojana. Similarly, 1935 crore has been given for CM Kisan Nidhi Yojana, a scheme that is seen as replacement of Biju Swasthya Kalya Yojana.

The CM announced that the state government will introduce Odia Bhasha Bruti, a scholarship for promotion of Odia language.

 An outlay of Rs 6,665 crore has been made for the metro railway project connecting Trisulia in Cuttack to Bhubaneswar airport. For Mukhya Mantri Sadak Yojana, an outlay of Rs 3190 crore has been made.

The budget saw a whopping allocation of Rs 4,487 crore for Madhubabu Pension Yojana.

The CM announced to launch Utkarsh Utkal by initiative to woo domestic and foreign direct investments (FDIs). While the government targets to mop up 2.50 lakh crore investment proposals from the domestic players, it aims $ 2 billion FDIs.

The CM took more than three hours to read out the 45-page budget speech.