Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu presented Rs 58,444 crore budget for 2024-25 in the state legislative assembly on Saturday.

With revenue receipts estimated at Rs 42,153 crore and revenue expenditure at Rs 46,667 crore, the revenue deficit is expected to be Rs 4,514 crore.

The fiscal deficit is estimated at Rs 10,784 crore, that is, 4.75 per cent of the state GDP.

Sukhu told the House that out of every Rs 100 expenditure, Rs 25 will be on salaries, Rs 17 on pension, Rs 11 on interest payment, Rs 9 on loan repayment, Rs 10 on grants for autonomous institutions, while the remaining Rs 28 will be spent on other activities including capital works.

The CM announced to procure the cow and buffalo milk by increasing the Minimum Support Price from the current Rs 38 per litre to Rs 45 per litre; and, from Rs 47 to Rs 55 per litre, respectively with effect from April 1.

“This is the first time in the history of Himachal that minimum support price has been ensured even on milk. Himachal Pradesh is the only state in the entire India to buy milk at the minimum support price,” he said.

A new sports policy is announced under which prize money for Olympic Gold Medal winners will be increased from Rs 3 crore to Rs 5 crore, for silver medal winners from Rs 2 crore to Rs 3 crore and for bronze medallists from Rs 1 crore to Rs 2 crore. There is a massive hike for Asian Games medal winners.

Nine new sports complexes will be set up at Hamirpur, Dhalli Bypass, Jaisinghpur, Kasumpti, Nadaun, Dehra, Rehan, Una and Bandrol.

Under the “Rajiv Gandhi Prakritik Kheti Start-up Yojana”, 36,000 farmers across the state will be encouraged to take up natural farming. The government will procure 20 quintals of naturally grown grains per family at an MSP of Rs 40 per kg, which is highest in the country, said Sukhu.

Financial assistance for cows in gaushala has been enhanced from Rs 700 to Rs 1,200 per cow.

For horticulturists, the use of universal cartons will start from the apple season in 2024.

The Dearness Allowance (DA) instalment of 4 per cent will be released from April 1 and now, the outsourced workers will get minimum wages of Rs 12,000 per month.

The annual allocation under ‘Vidhayak Kshetra Vikas Nidhi Yojna’ has been enhanced from Rs 2.10 crore to Rs 2.20 crore.

The diet money for police personnel has been increased five times, from Rs 210 to Rs 1,000, resulting in a benefit of Rs 9,000 per annum for 18,000 police personnel.

The CM said, “Our Government will request the Government of India to lay a broad gauge rail line from Kalka to Parwanoo for the convenience of the tourists and people of the state. Along with this, a request will also be made to lay the railway line from Jejon to Poliyan.”

“With this, a rail transport facility will be available to ‘Bulk Drug Pharma Park’ being constructed in the state,” he added.

Attacking the previous Jai Ram Thakur government, he said, “Due to wrong policies in the past, total liabilities in the form of loans have risen to Rs 87,788 crores. Total debt liabilities have increased from Rs 47,906 crore in 2018 to Rs 76,651 crore in 2023.”

The government will replace 327 diesel buses with e-buses in 2024-25.

A Linear Accelerator (LINAC) machine will be set up at a cost of Rs 21 crore at Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla for advanced radiotherapy treatment of cancer patients.