Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced the allocation of Rs 30,757 crore and Rs 5,958 crore for "all-round development" of the newly formed Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, respectively. 

The government is fully committed to supporting all-round development of the newly formed UTs of J&K and Ladakh, Sitharaman said as she announced the allocation in her Budget speech in Lok Sabha. 

An amount of Rs 30,757 crore has been provided for the FY 2020-21 while Rs 5,958 crore has been provided for the UT of Ladakh, she said. 

The two UTs were created after the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated following the abrogation of Article 370.

The government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi argued ending the special status of conflict-ridden state will spur economic growth in Jammu and Kashmir. 

The development has, however, failed to take off as severe restrictions remain in place in Kashmir, including the detention of top rung politicians. 

Sitharaman also announced that northeast India is very high on government’s development agenda, adding that smooth access to financial assistance from multilateral and bilateral funding agencies to help introduce innovative and global best practices is being ensured.

The Central government has effectively used an online portal to improve the flow of funds to the North East, the Finance Minister said.

Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2020 in a record speech of 160 minutes. She had cut short her Budget speech before she could finish her 13,331-word speech. 

This was the longest Budget speech by any finance minister.