Punjab budget 2018: Highlights

Punjab budget 2018: Highlights

NEW DELHI: Punjab finance minister Manpreet Badal presented state budget 2018 in the state Assembly on Saturday.

Here are the highlights from the budget speech:

* Rs 73.34 crore for upgradation of government medical colleges at Patiala and Amritsar.

* Rs 230 crore for upgradation of 75 rural roads and 4 bridges with NABARD assistance.

* State cancer institute at Amritsar costing Rs 39 crore to come up

* Tertiary cancer care centre at Fazilka to cope up with Rs 45 crore

* A support of Rs 25 crore to cancer and drug de-addiction treatment infrastructure board (CADA)

* Enhancement of 6 per cent grant as compared to last year for six universities of Punjab

* Rs 914.57 crore for National Health Mission, this is 18 per cent more than last year

* Solar system to be installed at all senior secondary schools

* One time grant of Rs 50 crore for Punjabi University, Patiala

* Rs 500 crore allocated for smart cities of Ludhiana, Amritsar and Jalandhar

* Installation of RO system in 1,500 schools with Rs 9 crore. Rs 10 crore for free sanitary napkins in schools.

* Every taxpayer in Punjab will now have to pay 20 paise development tax.

* Rs 4,015 crore for primary and secondary health care facilities with an increase of 13 per cent over previous year budget.

* Rs 1,634 crore for 17.35 lakh beneficiaries of social security pension

* Rs 1,634 crore for 17.35 lakh beneficiaries of social security pensions

* Free power to SC and BCs to cost Rs 8,950 crore.

* Outstanding debt of Punjab to go up to Rs 2,11,523 crore in 2018-19

* Rs 180 crore for sugarcane growers

* Centre for excellence for floriculture in Doraha, Ludhiana

* Rs 20 crore allocated in 2018-19 for establishing district bureaus of employment and enterprises in all 22 districts

* Rs 1,440 crore for subsided power to industry at Rs 5 per unit

* Rs 5 crore allocated to connect NRIs and youth with Punjab culture and heritage

* Free Wi-Fi services in all Government colleges

* Grant of Rs 42 crore for Panjab University

* Rs 100 crore provided for preparatory arrangements of 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev in 2019

* Rs 10 crore provided to develop tourism circuits

* To set up sports University at Patiala, initial allocation of Rs 10 crore made in the budget

* Rs 100 crore for crop residue management

* Rs 6 crore of outlay in 2018-19 for establishing shooting range at Mohali and new trap and skeet shooting range at Mukatsar.

* Burning of paddy straw has come down to 62% of the paddy down area, says FM

* Total outstanding debt of Punjab is Rs 1,95,978 crore.

* Debt servicing for 2018-19 is Rs 24,870 crore as against allowed net borrowing limit of Rs 15,545 crore approved by the Centre.

* Rs 8 crore proposed as grant to PU's constituent colleges

* Total grant to Panjab University enhanced from existing Rs 33 crore to Rs 42.62 crore

* When this govt took over it was welcomed with the additional liability of Rs 30,584 crore.

* Total outstanding debt of state as on March 2018 is Rs 1,95,978 crore: FM

* Rs 4,250 cr allocated for farm debt relief for 2018-19

* During 2017-2018, GSDP of Punjab has increased from Rs 4,33,660 crore in 2016-27 to 4,77,482 crore in current prices: Badal

* Punjab finance minister Manpreet Badal starts budget speech, 2nd budget of Congress govt

* Last year, Rs 1.18 lakh-crore budget was preceded by announcement of the farm debt waiver scheme by chief minister Amarinder Singh

Farmers are expecting more allocation than the previous year’s Rs 1,500 crore for the loan relief