BHUBANESWAR : Law minister Prithiviraj Harichandan informed the Assembly on Monday that the state government has utilised Rs 1,14,518 crore of the budget of Rs 2,90,000 crore for 2025-26 financial year, by October-end, accounting for 39 per cent of the total outlay.
Replying to a question from Pratap Deb (BJD) on behalf of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi who holds the Finance portfolio, the minister assured the members that rest of the budget allocation for different departments will be spent in the remaining four months of the financial year.
He dismissed allegations of BJD and Congress members that the government has failed to ensure proper utilisation of the budget allocations. The minister said by October-end, the state had achieved 36 per cent expenditure.
During this period, Rs 10,500 crore more funds have been utilised as compared to the corresponding period in the 2024-25 financial year. This is a sign of improved financial management and efficiency in implementing schemes, he said.
While admitting that some departments were lagging in budget utilisation, the minister said regular review was being conducted by the government to speed up expenditure. The departments having low expenditure have been given targets on utilisation of the remaining allocation.
The minister said the department of Sports and Youth Services has reported lowest expenditure of 8.83 per cent by spending just Rs 116.51 crore out of the allocation of Rs 1,319.79 crore by October-end. Planning and Coordination department has also reported expenditure of 13.28 per cent by utilising only Rs 372.80 crore from the allocation of Rs 2,808.22 crore.
The Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare department has achieved the highest expenditure of 70.32 per cent by spending Rs 2,487.81 crore out of Rs 3,537.77 crore allocated to it. The Handlooms, Textiles and Handicrafts department has utilised Rs 201.64 crore out of Rs 306.58 crore budget allocation which comes to 65.77 per cent.