Punjab Budget: agriculture, education, health key focus areas

Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Saturday presented a Rs 1.96-lakh-crore state budget for financial year 2023-24 in the State assembly. The main focus of the first full budget of AAP government is on agriculture, education and health, he said, while informing that Capital Expenditure estimates has been pegged at 11,782 crore rupees, which is an increase of 22% over the previous year. The Punjab budget allocated Rs 9,331 crore for free power in the state and 7,780 crore rupees for power subsidy to domestic consumers. 5 crore rupees have been given to create a brand image and publicity campaigns for tourism sector in the state. 4,781 crore rupees have been allocated for health and family welfare, which is 11 percent more than the previous year.

The transport sector received an allocation of Rs 567 crore, which is 42% more than the previous year. Witnessing an 11% increase over previous years in each category, 3,319 crore rupees were allocated for rural development and panchayats and 10,523 crore rupees for police and law and order. 30 crore rupees proposed for effectively combating cyber crime. An outlay of Rs 3,751 crore has been provisioned for fiscal incentives to industries, which is an increase of 19% over last year.