Punjab’s ₹2.36-lakh crore budget focuses on drug problem, health sector
₹14,524 cr earmarked for agriculture, allied sectors, ₹9,992 crore for providing free power to the farm sector; ₹150 crore for drug census; ₹110 crore for deploying anti-drone systems.
Punjab finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Wednesday presented a ₹2.36-lakh crore budget for the 2025-26 financial year.
Cheema said the effective revenue deficit and fiscal deficit are expected to be 2.51% and 3.84%, respectively. “According to the advanced estimates provided by the directorate of statistics,” he said, “Punjab’s economy is on a strong growth trajectory, registering an impressive 9% growth in the current year. As a result, the state’s gross state domestic product (GSDP) at current prices has reached ₹8,09,538 crore. Looking ahead, the momentum is expected to continue, with GSDP at current prices projected to expand by 10% in FY 2025-26, reaching ₹8,91,301 crore.”
Cheema said the total revenue receipts have been projected to be ₹1,11,740 crore in FY 2025-26, of which the own tax revenue accounts for ₹63,250 crore. Further, the share of central taxes has been pegged at ₹25,703 crore and grant-in-aid from the Centre at ₹10,576 crore in FY 2025-26.
He set an ambitious GST target of ₹27,650 for the 2025-26 financial year.
The finance minister said the state government has decided to carry out the first-ever drug census in Punjab next year. This census will cover every household of Punjab and will collect data to understand the prevalence of drugs, usage of de-addiction centres, besides collecting data on socio-economic status of the people of Punjab. “We will use this data to craft an effective and scientific strategy to eradicate the problem of drugs within the next one to two years. ₹150 crore has been earmarked for this census,” he said.
Putting up second line of defence
Punjab will deploy 5,000 home guards alongside the Border Security Force (BSF) to check drug smuggling.
The finance minister said the bulk of drugs coming to Punjab are from across the border. “It is the primary responsibility of the Union government to halt cross-border smuggling of drugs and arms, as the 50km area along the border falls under the BSF’s jurisdiction. Yet, nobody can deny that the issue is prevalent. We have now decided to complement the efforts of BSF by undertaking two initiatives to completely block cross-border smuggling of drugs,” he said.
“For the first time in Punjab’s history, the state government will establish a second line of defence at the border by deploying 5,000 home guards alongside the BSF. These home guards will be selected from the most determined Punjabi youth, who will act as the eagle eyes protecting the future of Punjab. The government will also deploy the most advanced and effective anti-drone systems available anywhere in the world that can track and neutralise the sophisticated cross-border drones being used to drop drugs and arms inside Punjab. We have already started piloting cutting-edge technologies and will deploy anti-drone systems along the border in the coming year. I am allocating a budget of ₹110 crore towards these initiatives next year,” he said.
Strengthening emergency response
Cheema said that to ensure that police are well-equipped to respond immediately to any tip-offs and arrest culprits in time, a major initiative will be launched to strengthen the fleet of emergency response vehicles (ERVs) that respond to calls made on 112.
At present, Punjab Police operate a fleet of 258 dedicated ERVs due to which the average response time to distress calls goes up to 30 minutes. In the next year, the government has decided to procure 758 four-wheelers and 916 two-wheelers and deploy them as ERVs, which will effectively increase the fleet size by six times. “With this, we will reduce the average response time to emergency calls to eight minutes, which will be the lowest in the country. In addition, we will construct a state-of-the-art headquarters for the Dial 112 response team in Mohali. “I’m announcing an allocation of ₹125 crore towards buying new emergency response vehicles and an allocation of ₹53 crore towards building the new Dial 112 headquarters in FY 2025-26,” he said.
Universal health insurance scheme for 65 lakh families
The government has decided to extend the state health insurance scheme in the coming year to make it universal and cover all the 65 lakh families of Punjab. There will be no bar or discrimination - rural or urban, rich or poor everyone can participate in this scheme.
The government has decided to extend the insurance cover for all families of Punjab to ₹10 lakh per annum. This includes those enrolled in central government scheme too, they will get an additional top-up cover of ₹5 lakh from the state government. Further, all families who are covered under the Mukh Mantri Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana will receive a ‘Sehat Card’ next year through which they can avail cashless treatment of up to ₹10 lakh in government and private hospitals across Punjab.
So far, 45 lakh families of Punjab are enrolled in government health insurance schemes of which 16 lakh families are covered under the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat Yojana and the remaining 29 lakh families are covered under the state government’s Mukh Mantri Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana. The insurance coverage for the entire family is only ₹5 lakh per annum in these schemes.
The FM announced reduction in the cost of availing government services at your doorstep from ₹120 to ₹50. For every service delivered, the government will bear the balance ₹70.
₹14,524 crore earmarked for agriculture, allied sectors
An allocation of ₹14,524 crore has been earmarked for the agriculture and allied sectors in next financial year which is 5% higher than last year.
To incentivise crop diversification, a new scheme covering three districts of Bathinda, Kapurthala and Gurdaspur is being introduced for kharif maize crop. A total of about 21,000 hectares will be diversified from paddy to kharif maize to encourage the production of ethanol to achieve the target of 20% blending of ethanol by year 2025 set by the Government of India.
The farmers will get a subsidy of ₹17,500 per hectare for switching to kharif maize cultivation and will provide benefit to about 30,000 farmers. An amount of ₹115 crore has been earmarked for this purpose and for other initiatives aimed at crop diversification.
Cheema allocated ₹9,992 crore as power subsidy for 14.5 lakh agriculture tubewells.
He earmarked ₹500 crore to support farmers, cooperatives, and gram panchayats for crop-residue management, to check stubble burning, specifically during paddy harvest.
An allocation of ₹149 crore has been made in FY 2025-26 under the Krishonnati Yojana to support critical activities, including agriculture extension, enhancing food security, promoting horticulture, seed development, boosting edible oil production, and digital agriculture.
An allocation of ₹250 crore has been made for sugarcane purchase and ₹137 crore has been earmarked to promote horticulture in Punjab.
A sum of ₹2873 crore has been allocated for repair and new rural roads by the Mandi Board.
An allocation of ₹100 crore has been made for providing financial assistance to the milk producers for ensuring fair remunerative milk prices; ₹75 crore for recapitalisation of District Central Co-operative Banks and ₹28 crore support for the completion of PACS projects, ensuring strengthened digital infrastructure and improved service delivery in the cooperative banking sector.
₹4,650-crore loan taken from PSCFC waived
The government has decided to waive loans of ₹4,650 crore of defaulters who had availed loan from the Punjab Scheduled Castes Land Development and Finance Corporation (PSCFC). “While most of those who have taken loans have paid it back, there are some genuine reasons due to which some beneficiaries haven’t been able to pay back the loans, such as failure of the beneficiary’s business, death of the beneficiary and no other earning member in the family, due to the prolonged illness of another member in the beneficiary’s house or no other source of income or falling victim to any natural disaster, etc. In some cases, the families have had to sell their house and assets to pay back the loans which pushes them to poverty,” said Cheema.
“The government has taken a humane view of this situation and has decided to bring a loan waiver scheme for all those who have defaulted on loans taken through PSCFC until March 31, 2020,” he said. A total of 4,650 persons will be benefited from this waiver.
Modernising police infrastructure
An amount of ₹100 crore is proposed for the construction, renovation and upgrade of jail infrastructure in the state, while ₹233 crore is has been allocated to modernise police infrastructure, Cheema said. This includes the construction and renovation of police complexes, purchase of land for police lines, police stations, and housing for police personnel.
For further enhancing the state’s judicial infrastructure, the budget proposes to construct court complexes in Derabassi, Khanna, and Patran at an estimated cost of ₹132 crore in FY 2025-26.
Strengthening urban governance, facilities
An allocation of ₹300 crore has been provisioned in FY 2025-26 for the Punjab Municipal Services Improvement Project (PMSIP) to strengthen urban governance, finances, and delivery of sustainable water services to the citizens of Amritsar and Ludhiana.
For the development of housing and urban local areas, an allocation of ₹5,983 crore has been made.
Cheema announced the Mukh Mantri Street Light Yojana for installation of 2.5 lakh street lights next year throughout the state.
With inputs by Gurpreet Singh Nibber and Ravinder Vasudeva
