Punjab FM presents Rs 1. 96 lakh crore budget for 2023-24; agri, education health key focus areas budget PTI Updated: March 10th, 2023, 13:02 IST in Business , National 0 Pic- Twitter/ AAP ka Mehta Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on WhatsApp Share on Linkedin Chandigarh: Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema presented a Rs 1. 96-lakh-crore state budget for 2023-24 in the assembly here Friday with a focus on agriculture, education and health segments. Speaking in the Assembly, Harpal Cheema said education, health, and agriculture are among the priority sectors for the government. Total budget size has been increased by 26 per cent to Rs 1,96,462 crore for 2023-24 over the previous year, the state finance minister said. It is the first full budget of the AAP government. After coming to power in March 2022, the AAP government first passed a vote-on account on March 22 and then it presented its budget in June for the remaining part of the year. The Finance Minister proposed Rs 13,888 crore for agriculture and allied sector, up by 20 per cent. The government will soon come out with a new agriculture policy for which a committee of experts have been formed for the purpose, he said. A sum of Rs 1,000 crore has been allocated for crop diversification. A revolving fund for Basmati crop purchase has also been set up, he said. The government has decided to launch a risk mitigation crop insurance scheme–Bhaav Antar Bhugtan Yojana. Cheema said that Rs 125 crore has been allocated for direct sowing of paddy and moong crop purchase. On the stubble-burning issue, Cheema said that there has been a drop of 30 per cent in stubble-burning incidents. Cheema said that a free power subsidy of Rs 9,331 crore for the farm sector has been earmarked for 2023-24. On the health sector, he said 10. 50 lakh people have been treated in ‘Aam Aadmi Clinics’ in the state so far. He said 26,797 jobs have been given so far by the Bhagwant Mann government. The effective revenue deficit and fiscal deficit have been pegged at 3. 32 per cent and 4. 98 per cent of the gross state domestic product (GSDP) respectively. A sum of Rs 74,620 crore has been proposed towards the committed expenditure, a jump of 12 per cent in comparison to FY 2022-23. Effective capital expenditure is pegged at Rs 11,782 crore, an increase of 22 per cent in comparison to the previous fiscal. PTI Tags: Budget Harpal Singh Cheema Punjab Share Tweet Send Share Suggest A Correction Enter your email to get our daily news in your inbox. Leave this field empty if you're human: Related Posts India-US ink pact for setting up semiconductor supply chain March 10, 2023 Saudi economy grows 8. 7% in 2022: Report March 10, 2023 ED conducts raids at 15 locations in land-for-job scam March 10, 2023 Sensex, Nifty plunges over 1 pc as IT, financial shares drop March 10, 2023 Rupee falls 8 paise to 82. 14 against US dollar in early trade March 10, 2023 Excise policy scam: Delhi court to hear Sisodia’s bail plea today March 10, 2023 Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * Comment * Name * Email * Website Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ.