Centre tables ₹1,13,000 cr J&K budget; Infra, employment, water supply key focus

The central government on Monday presented a ₹1,12,950 crore budget for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in the Parliament. The Budget 2022-23 for the UT is up 10% over the revised estimate of 2021-22.

Tabling the budget in the Lok Sabha on Monday evening, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, "The budget 2022-23 for J&K is more than ₹1 lakh crore mark again, which is an indicator of our commitment to make J&K a model of development."

Sitharaman said that tourism, road and power infrastructure development and water connectivity are some of the key focus areas in J&K. "This is an inclusive budget and all the sectors will get focussed attention," Sitharaman said.

To exploit the potential of the tourism sector in the union territory, 75 offbeat destinations have been identified to be developed with proper infrastructure and requisite facilities for tourists. In order to facilitate the tourism development plan in J&K, the Centre is also weaving around a web of road connectivity projects.

"Improving road connectivity is high on the agenda. Government is moving fast in its ambition to provide roads to every village. The national highway project between Jammu and Srinagar is being completed on a fast track basis which will reduce travel time to five hours. Execution of Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway is being taken up and it will take only six hrs to reach Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine from Delhi with the completion of this project. 6,000 Kms of road length is being black-topped and 50 bridges completed during 2022-23," Sitharaman said.

"Every household will be provided with a tapped water connection under Jal Jeevan Mission by August this year. Providing employment to youth in J&K is our prime concern and it shall get focused attention during this year. Union Territory of J&K is intending to achieve 100% coverage under all the individual beneficiary oriented schemes," Sitharaman said while announcing the budget for the UT.

While reading out the Budget for the UT, Sitharaman also pointed out that the investment proposal under new industrial policy shall be cleared on a fast track basis and power generation capacity will be doubled in the next three years.