Marking International Women’s Day, the Chief Minister announced that women across Jammu and Kashmir will enjoy free ridership on government-owned public transport, including e-Buses, starting April 2025.
Marriage Assistance enhanced
In a significant relief for economically weaker sections, the Marriage Assistance under the Scheme for EWS category girls has been enhanced from ₹50,000 to ₹75,000.
Pension Enhancements for vulnerable sections
Fulfilling another commitment, the Chief Minister increased pensions for 10,07,324 individuals across J&K under the Integrated Social Assistance Scheme (ISSS) and the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP). The revised pension structure is ₹1,250 per month for individuals below 60 years; ₹1,500 per month for those aged between 60 and below 80 years and ₹2,000 per month for those aged 80 years and above.
Stamp duty exemption for property transfers within blood relations
The Chief Minister announced a complete exemption of stamp duty on property transfers through gifts within blood relations. The move will promote ease of transactions, reduce inheritance disputes and encourage legal documentation of property transfers.
Sectoral Allocations and Development Initiatives
• Agriculture & Allied Sectors: ₹2,221.58 crore allocated, an increase of ₹332.72 crore from the revised 2024-25 allocation.
• Rural Development: ₹3,773.93 crore allocated, an increase of ₹990.04 crore from the revised 2024-25 allocation.
• Tourism: ₹390.20 crore allocated, an increase of ₹121.77 crore.
• Industries: ₹602.85 crore allocated, an increase of ₹291.44 crore.
• Health & Medical Sector: ₹1,750.50 crore allocated, an increase of ₹643.71 crore. The SEHAT App will soon be launched to improve healthcare accessibility.
• Education Sector: ₹1,388.97 crore allocated, an increase of ₹242.75 crore.
• Sports Sector: ₹152.69 crore allocated, an increase of ₹36.91 crore.
• Roads & Bridges: ₹4,062.93 crore allocated, an increase of ₹439.28 crore.
• Irrigation & Water Supply: ₹2,662.71 crore allocated, an increase of ₹817.87 crore.
• Housing & Urban Development: ₹2,761.74 crore allocated, an increase of ₹823.53 crore.
Giving details of budgetary proposals in various sectors, CM said that in power sector, J&K shall aim to achieve self sufficiency in power & energy by 2027-28 with 7,500 MW new hydro projects & smart grid investments to ensure 24/7 power supply.
To further improve power efficiency, the Chief Minister’s Awards will be instituted to recognize outstanding efforts in reducing Aggregate Technical & Commercial (AT&C) losses and conducting energy audits.
Highlighting that major highways and tunnels were under execution, and rail connectivity via USBRL project was progressing rapidly, CM said that the budget has proposed 4,000 km of roads to be blacktopped in 2025-26 to improve connectivity across J&K.
CM said that Agriculture and allied sectors are crucial for the livelihoods of most of our population and Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP) has an outlay of Rs 5013 crore until 2027-28 which is reshaping subsistence farming into commercial agri-economy.
On Industrial Development, CM said that J&K currently has 64 Industrial Estates and 46 more are under development and Government is committed to ensure infrastructure development in these estates. He said that Government is streamlining SGST reimbursement and turnover incentives. He said to strengthen industry collaboration, Government would constitute an Advisory Committee on Industries, ensuring regular engagement with businesses. CM proposed Rs 50 crore this year to support financial aid, mentorship and incubation for emerging entrepreneurs, He said that Government will bring a new policy to provide price preference to local MSMEs in public procurement