Chandigarh: The fourth budget of the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab has once again left out the provision of Rs 1,100 per month to every adult woman in the state. The execution of one of the major pre-poll promises of the AAP found no mention in the budget speech delivered by the state’s Finance Minister Harpal Cheema Thursday.
The Punjab government was expected to implement the scheme with this year’s budget as multiple pre-budget meetings had featured discussions on the proposal. “I admit that we have not been able to fulfill our poll promise towards women this year, but we will be doing it very soon,” Cheema told media persons after the budget presentation.
Though not part of Cheema’s speech, the financial statement released later showed that the state’s outstanding debt is likely to touch an alarming Rs 4.17 lakh crore by the end of the new fiscal year. This would come down to a debt of Rs 1.39 lakh per Punjab citizen on average.
In the financial statement, the “effective” outstanding debt, however, was projected at Rs 3.96 lakh crore, after subtracting “back-to-back loans of Rs 20,491.41 crore received from Government of India in 2020-21 and 2021-22 in lieu of GST compensation shortfall”.
“This part of the debt is not to be paid back by Punjab, but by the Centre,” explained A.K. Sinha, Punjab’s Principal Secretary, Finance, to media persons.
In last year’s budget, the debt burden was estimated to be Rs 3.74 lakh crore. However, according to the revised estimates, it shot up to Rs 3.83 lakh crore.
On Monday, Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary had informed Parliament that Punjab is the second-most indebted state in the country. In response to a question by Congress MP from Chandigarh, Manish Tewari, Chaudhary had said that Punjab was only second to Arunachal Pradesh in terms of debt-to-GSDP (gross state domestic product) ratio.
At a media briefing after the presentation of the budget, Cheema said that the state’s debt-to-GSDP ratio is expected to improve from the last fiscal, when it stood at 44.7 percent, to an estimated 44.5 percent this year.
However, according to the data shared by Chaudhary in Parliament Monday, Punjab’s debt-to-GSDP ratio was 46.6 percent, much higher than what has been projected by the state government.
Asked about the discrepancy, Cheema said that the budget had been prepared in accordance with the figures gathered by the statistics department. Principal Secretary Sinha added that while he could not comment on the figures presented in Parliament as reported by the media, it was advisable to refer to the figures updated regularly on the accountant general’s website.
The state gross domestic product has clocked a growth rate of nine percent from the current Rs 8.09 lakh crore, and is expected to touch 8.91 lakh crore in the current fiscal at a growth rate of 10 percent, Cheema said.
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Rs 2.36 crore budget
Presenting a Rs 2.36 lakh crore annual budget for FY 2025-26, the AAP government will be raising an estimated debt of over Rs 49,900 crore this year, apart from banking on another Rs 71,250 crore through ways and means advances (WMA) to meet its expenditure.
The WMA, a financial instrument of the Reserve Bank of India, is meant for central and state governments to tide over any mismatch in receipts and payments. However, it’s usually an emergency provision to be used sparingly.
“The total revenue receipts have been projected at Rs 1.11 lakh crore, of which the state’s own tax revenue accounts for Rs 63,250 crore. The share of central taxes has been pegged at Rs 25,703 crore and share in central taxes at Rs 10,576 crore,” said Cheema. He added that the state’s own tax revenue had recorded a double-digit growth of 14 percent by February 2025. “Excise revenue alone increased by 63 percent.”
Of the proposed Rs 1.35 lakh crore revenue expenditure, the government will spend almost Rs 36,500 crore on salaries and wages, and nearly Rs 20,750 crore on pensions. Of the rest, almost Rs 25,000 crore will go in payment of interest.
Furthermore, the Punjab government will be spending Rs 10,300 crore in terms of capital expenditure, an increase from the current Rs 8,347 crore.
The finance minister pegged the revenue deficit at 2.69 percent and fiscal deficit at 3.84 percent. Last year, the state had registered a revenue deficit of 3.54 percent and a fiscal deficit of 4.54 percent.
Promotion of sports
In the budget speech, Cheema announced the allocation of Rs 979 crore for sports and allied activities—“the highest ever in the history of Punjab”. He said that the money would be utilised as part of a specialised effort under “Khed-da Punjab, badalda Punjab” to encourage youngsters to stay away from drugs.
The finance minister also announced the “Rangla Punjab Vikas Scheme”, under which Rs 5 crore will be allocated to each constituency in Punjab for development purposes. A total of Rs 585 crore has been allocated for the scheme.
Cheema also announced that his government will undertake the first drug census in the state, covering every household to gather data about the prevalence of drug addiction, usage of drug de-addiction centres, and the socio-economic condition of these households. Cheema said that the data gathered would help in generating better policy decisions to combat drug addiction. Rs 150 crore has been set aside for the survey.
Cheema added that the government has extended the state health insurance scheme to cover 65 lakh families in Punjab, while increasing the insurance cover to Rs 10 lakh. He said that this will include those covered under central government’s schemes, who will get an additional top-up cover of Rs 5 lakh from the state government. A budget allocation of Rs 778 crore has been made on this account, he added.
While Rs 9,992 crore has been allocated for power subsidy to agriculture, another Rs 7,614 crore has been kept aside to offset the power bills of households, which consume less than 300 units per month.
‘Plethora of lies’
The Opposition in Punjab called the budget “disappointing”, describing it as “outright cheating” with the women of Punjab. “The budget is a plethora of lies and deceitfulness,” Leader of Opposition and Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa told media persons.
“In the upcoming financial year (2025-26), the AAP government will raise a loan of Rs 49,900 crore. Consequently, the state’s outstanding debt will be Rs 3.96 lakh crore by the end of next FY. When the AAP got hold of power in March 2022, the outstanding debt in Punjab was Rs 2.73 lakh crore. Is this what FM Cheema was boasting about?” said Bajwa.
“Agriculture is the most crucial sector of Punjab. The allocation of Rs 14,524 crore for the agriculture sector is nothing but a cruel joke with the farmers of Punjab. MSP procurement for non-paddy crops covers just two percent of farmers. To diversify 10 lakh hectares, it needs Rs 28,000 crore per year, not the Rs 1,200 crore allocated,” he added.
Bajwa further said that the Bhagwant Mann-led government has failed to fulfill its key pre-poll promises as the Rs 1,100 monthly allowance for women has not been announced this year either. The government has also failed to curb the drug menace in the state, he said.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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