BHUBANESWAR: A fortnight ahead of schedule, the state government has begun preparation for the annual budget 2025-26 with a focus to make it fiscally prudent, inclusive and growth-oriented.
Usually the budget preparation starts in mid-November or early December. It has been a practice to present the annual budget in the Assembly in February for last few years in line with the Union budget.
After coming to power in June this year, the Mohan Charan Majhi-led BJP government had only one month in hand to prepare the 2024-25 budget that drew mixed reactions from cross-sections. As the Opposition BJD criticised the budget as a mere ‘name-changing’ exercise, accusing the BJP of superficially rebranding rather than introducing transformative policies, the government now aims to present a strategic fiscal roadmap that would propel Odisha to reach a 1.5 trillion-dollar economy by 2047.
The Finance department has asked all departments to focus on 10 pillars of development as framed by the state government while finalising the revised estimates for 2024-25 and budget estimates for 2025-26 as per the Odisha Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act. The Act mandates to maintain revenue balance and contain the fiscal deficit within 3 per cent of GSDP.
“Since additional annual borrowing space of 0.5 per cent of GSDP would be available till 2025-26 as per the recommendation of 15th Finance Commission and provision for carrying forward the unused borrowing space to successive financial years would also be available till 2025-26, the departments have been advised to submit their proposals accordingly by December 20,” said an official.
While RBI has projected India’s economy to grow around 7.2 per cent during the current fiscal and have a growth of 7 per cent during 2025-26, the state economy is poised to grow at 8 to 8.5 per cent in real terms in 2024-25 and the same momentum is expected to continue in the next fiscal.
Considering the projected growth for GDP, inflation and buoyancy of the direct and indirect taxes at national and state level, total revenue receipt of the state has been estimated to grow by about 12 per cent in 2025-26 over the current year’s estimates if there are no major shocks to the revenue receipt due to fluctuation of the mineral prices internationally.
The next annual budget is expected to touch Rs 3 lakh crore, up by around 10 per cent of this year’s estimate as the key focus would be on job creation and sustainable growth. Political observers believe that the 2025-26 budget could shape the BJP’s standing in Odisha, signalling a shift towards impactful and long-term policymaking.
Meanwhile, it has been decided to convene the pre-budget consultation meetings between December 21 and January 5 so that the budget documents can be ready by the second week of February and approved by the council of ministers. The budget will be presented by the chief minister in last week of the same month.