- Omar Govt sets budget exercise in motion
- Departments asked to reflect correct spending
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Oct 3: The Omar Abdullah-Government has set the exercise in motion for preparing budget for next financial year of 2026-27 which will be presented in the Legislature by the Chief Minister, who holds charge of the Finance Department, during budget session in March next year.
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Along with budgetary estimates, the revised estimates for current financial year of 2025-26 will also be prepared.
Budget for current financial year of 2025-26 is to the tune of Rs 1.12 lakh crore which was presented by Omar in the Legislative Assembly in March this year. This was Omar’s first budget and first of the UT to be presented in the Legislature here in past seven years.
While setting deadlines for meetings for the budgetary exercise by the Government departments, the Finance Department pointed out that it has been noticing huge variations in the actual expenditure of the preceding year as shown by the Departments and the numbers given by the Accountant General (A&E) J&K in the Annual Finance Account of that year.
“This has been viewed seriously,” the Finance Department said.
It said the departments should take care to reflect correct and duly reconciled expenditure in the forms.
As per the timelines issued by the Finance Department, the Administrative departments will carry out due scrutiny of estimates submitted to them and forward recommendations to the Finance Department not later than October 30, 2025. To achieve the target date, the budget preparation at the DDO and the HoD level shall be completed by October 20 and October 25 respectively.
The Administrative Secretaries have been requested to send budget proposals in respect of each HoD to the Finance Department by the notified date.
After UT level meetings by the senior officers, a couple of meetings are held by the Finance Department officials with the Union Finance Ministry in which demands and funds for the UT are projected. However, final touch to the budget is given in the month of February after total grants for the UT to be given by the Finance Ministry are finalized.
The budget for 2019-20 of Jammu and Kashmir was to the tune of Rs 88,911 crore.
Budgets of the Union Territory for the years 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 were presented and passed by the Parliament in the absence of Legislative Assembly in Jammu and Kashmir.
Budget for the financial year 2024-25 budget was presented in the Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 23, 2024 worth Rs 1,18,728 crore.
Budget for 2023-24 of Jammu and Kashmir was also to the tune of Rs 1,18,500 crore.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who holds charge of the Finance Department, presented Rs 1.12 lakh crore worth budget for current financial year of 2025-26.
The Chief Minister is likely to meet Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman before finalization of the budget.
Besides the budget, sources said, the departments will undertake an exercise for revised estimates for ongoing fiscal year of 2025-26.
The estimates are revised taking into account expenditure by the different departments, the officials said.
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