JAMMU, Jan 7: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi as part of pre-budget consultations.Sitharaman will present the Union budget in the Parliament on February 1 while Omar, who holds charge of the Finance Department, will be presenting not only his maiden budget but also first of jammu and Kashmir as the Union Territory.
Schedule of J&K’s budget session hasn’t been finalized as yet but it is expected to be held in the middle of February. The budget has to be passed by the House before March 31.
However, this will be after six years that budget of Jammu and Kashmir will be presented in the Legislature.
Omar’s meeting at Sitharaman’s North Block office went on for more than 30 minutes and was “cordial”, the sources said.
This is the second meeting between the two leaders in two months.
Omar called on Sitharaman in November for his first meeting with the Finance Minister since taking charge as Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister.
The Chief Minister had also attended GST Council meeting chaired by Sitharaman at Jaisalmer in Rajasthan on December 21 and 22 and presented J&K’s view point.
Omar is reported to have sought liberal funding from the Centre for Jammu and Kashmir during today’s meeting with the Finance Minister. He reportedly called for enhancing financial support to the UT for minimizing liabilities.
“The Finance Minister assured all possible support to the Chief Minister and reportedly said that his concerns will be addressed,” the sources said.
Ongoing financial year 2024-25 budget for Jammu and Kashmir was presented in the Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 23, 2024 worth Rs 1,18,728 crore. However, an interim budget of the UT (Vote-on-Account) was taken on February 5, 2024 in the Parliament in view of Lok Sabha elections.
Budget for 2023-24 of Jammu and Kashmir was also to the tune of Rs 1,18,500 crore.
However, it would be seen whether J&K gets enhancement in the budget amount or not.
Dr Haseeb Drabu had presented last budget of Jammu and Kashmir State in the Legislative Assembly on January 11, 2018 for the financial year of 2018-19 worth Rs 80,313 crore. However, in June 2018, Mehbooba Mufti-led PDP-BJP coalition Government collapsed following withdrawal of support to the Government. In November, 2018, the Assembly was dissolved.
The budget for 2019-2020 was adopted by the then State Administrative Council (SAC) headed by then Governor Satya Pal Malik here on December 15, 2018 to the tune of Rs 88,911 crore.
Subsequent budgets of the Union Territory including 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 were presented and passed by the Parliament in the absence of Legislative Assembly in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Finance Department has already held meetings with different departments to ascertain their requirements for 2025-26 annual budget.
