Odisha Finance Minister to present budget on July 2, Naveen likely to join virtually from Rome

BHUBANESWAR:  Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari will present the full-fledged budget for 2022-23 financial year in the Assembly on July 2, the first day of the monsoon session. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik who will be away on a foreign tour will not be present during presentation of the budget. He is likely to join the budget presentation virtually from Rome.

The State government had presented a budget of Rs 2 lakh crore and sought vote-on-account of Rs 1.06 crore for the first four months of the financial year on March 30, in view of the model code of conduct imposed due to the panchayat and urban local body elections.

Official sources said that the budget for 2022-23 will be more than what was presented in the House earlier. Several aspects of the budget have been reworked and allocations for several programmes and schemes are likely to undergo changes.

Out of the Rs 2 lakh crore budget placed in the House, Rs 1 lakh crore was the outlay for programme expenditure which was 33 per cent more than the outlay of Rs 75,000 crore for 2021-22. Similarly, the outlay for disaster response funds was Rs 3,210 crore while the outlay for transfers from State to the local bodies was Rs 7,170 crore.

Official sources said that outlays for some key sectors including agriculture and allied sectors, infrastructure, education and skills and health sectors are likely to go up. While seeking vote-on-account, a separate agriculture budget was not placed. The outlay for agriculture and allied sectors was Rs 20,344 crore, which is likely to be increased. The monsoon session will begin on July 2 and continue till August 4 with 24 working days, according to the notification issued by the Assembly secretariat. 

Official business will be taken up for discussion on July 4. There will be general discussion on the annual budget on July 5 and 6. The House will be closed from July 7 to July 12 for meetings of standing committees of different departments. 

The standing committee reports will be placed in the House on July 13. As per the schedule, discussion on demands for grants of different departments will be held in the Assembly between July 14 and July 20. The Appropriation Bill will be tabled on July 29.