₹3.89 lakh crore budget tabled in WB assembly for 2025-26
The government unveiled a series of infrastructure and agricultural development projects in its budget, allocating significant funds for rural connectivity, river erosion control, and agrarian support initiatives
Kolkata: West Bengal finance minister Chandrima Bhattacharya tabled a budget of ₹3.89 lakh crore for the financial year (FY) 2025-26 in the assembly on Wednesday.
“I propose to provide ₹3,89,194 crore (net) in the Budget of Financial Year 2025-26,” Bhattacharya said, adding that the gross state domestic product (GSDP) had grown by 6.8% in 2024-25, outpacing India’s growth rate of 6.37%.
This is the final full budget of Mamata Banerjee’s third consecutive term. With state assembly elections scheduled for 2026, the state finance minister will present a vote-on-account in February next year.
The government unveiled a series of infrastructure and agricultural development projects in its budget, allocating significant funds for rural connectivity, river erosion control, and agrarian support initiatives.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee, meanwhile, accused the Centre of freezing funds under various schemes.
While the revised grant-in-aid from the Union government for 2024-25 was ₹28,431 crore, the grant-in-aid for the 2025-26 budget has been pegged at ₹37,157 crore.
Bhattacharya also announced 4% Dearness Allowance (DA) for state government employee and pensioners taking the total DA to 18% with effect from April 2025. This comes at a time when a section of the state government employees have been demanding DA on a par with their central government counterparts.
The budget also allocates ₹1,500 crore for the improvement of rural roads aimed at “enhancing connectivity and boosting economic activity in remote areas.”
Under the ‘Banglar Bari’ project, the state plans to construct 16 lakh new houses in the upcoming financial year, and a proposal of ₹9,600 crore was allocated for the initiative.
In a bid to address the persistent issue of river erosion, the government set aside ₹200 crore, aiming to provide “much-needed relief to vulnerable riverine communities.”
Further focusing on infrastructure, the government sanctioned ₹500 crore for the construction of a 4.75-km-long bridge at Gangasagar, which is expected to facilitate “smooth access for pilgrims and boost local economies.”
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators led by leader of the Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, staged a walkout.
“This budget reveals that the state government has gone bankrupt. This government has betrayed the unemployed youths and farmers. This budget has nothing for the development of north Bengal, Jangalmahal and Sunderban. The budget says nothing on how the state government will repay the debts. A huge gap still exists between the DA of central and state government employees,” Adhikari said.
While the outstanding debt for 2024-25 (revised) was ₹7,06,531 crore, the amount in the 2025-26 budget has been pegged at ₹7,71,670 crore. The revised fiscal deficit for the year 2024-25 was ₹73,017 crore, while in this budget the amount has been estimated to be ₹73,177 crore.
“The per capita debt as stated in the Union budget is ₹1,41,131. This means, a child who is born today in India is having a debt burden of ₹1.41 lakh. The per capita debt in the state is half of the Centre. This means West Bengal is in a much better position as far as debt is concerned,” Amit Mitra, former state finance minister and presently the chief financial advisor of the chief minister, said.