Odisha govt presents Rs 2.65 trn budget for FY25, renames several schemes

The BJP government in Odisha presented its maiden budget on Thursday with a total estimate of Rs 2.65 lakh crore for the 2024-25 fiscal, laying emphasis on agriculture and women empowerment. The size of the budget for the current financial year was around 15 per cent more than the budgetary estimate of Rs 2.30 lakh crore for the 2023-24 fiscal, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said in the assembly. Majhi, who also holds the finance portfolio, modified and renamed several popular schemes like KALIA, 'Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana' (BSKY) and 'Biju Pucca Ghar Yojana' (BPGY). He proposed an outlay of Rs 33,919 crore for agriculture, which is about 36 per cent more than the allocation made in the previous year. Of the total budget estimates, programme expenditure was pegged at Rs 1.55 lakh crore, administrative expenditure at Rs 97,725 crore and an outlay of Rs 3,900 crore for Disaster Risk Management Funds, he said. To ensure the speedy empowerment of women, as promised by the BJP in