Compared to 2017-18, capital expenditure witnesses 7-fold increase, state’s own tax revenue goes up 3 times
Shillong, Mar 5: Chief minister Conrad K Sangma, also in-charge of Finance, has tabled an estimated budget of Rs 30,003 crore for 2025-26 financial year with a deficit of Rs 1,970 crore, which is 2.96% of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP).
“I am delighted to highlight that the fiscal deficit has been maintained below the permissible limit of 3.5%,” Sangma said in his budget speech in the state assembly on Wednesday.
He expressed gratitude to prime minister Narendra Modi for the significant increase in central share of taxes to the state in the past few years.
Sangma also presented a 2025-26 Climate Budget of Rs 5,421 crore, Gender Budget of Rs 6,219 crore, Youth Budget of Rs 3,329 crore.
The total receipts have been estimated to be Rs 30,415 crore, including revenue receipts ofRs 25,591 crore and capital receipts of Rs 4,824 crore.
However, excluding borrowings of Rs 4,788 crore, the total receipts are estimated to be Rs 25,627 crore.
The estimated total expenditure of Rs 30,003 crore includes revenue expenditure of Rs 20,556 crore and capital expenditure of Rs 9,447 crore.
On the other hand, the estimated total expenditure is Rs 27,597 crore excluding repayment of loans of Rs 2,406 crore.
The interest payments for 2025-26 are estimated at Rs 1,347 crore and pension payments at Rs 1,824 crore.
“Along with the main budget document, I am presenting the Climate, Youth, Gender and SDG Budgets,” the chief minister said.
The 2025-26 climate budget is an increase of 20% over 2024-25 while the youth budget went up by 16.6%, and gender budget increased by 25%, he said.
Staying firm on his goal of transforming Meghalaya a “developed state” by 2032, Sangma said, “This budget will provide the framework for growth, job creation and improving citizen wellbeing.”
He also reminded that the MDA 2.0 government, when formed in 2023, had announced the target of making Meghalaya a $10 billion economy and doubling the state’s GDP from then Rs 42,697 crore to Rs 85,000 crore by 2028.
Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation approved GSDP numbers for 2023-24 at Rs 53,057 crore and the projected GSDP for 2025-26 is at an impressive Rs 66,647 crore.
“The annual growth rate for 2023-26 stands at 12.7% and we are certain to achieve our target for 2028,” he said.
The total estimated transfers from the Centre to Meghalaya are expected to rise to Rs 20,568 crore in 2025-26, up from revised estimates of Rs 19,242 crore in the current year, according to the chief minister.
Attributing the growth to “India’s robust economic performance”, he said, the share of central taxes is projected to increase by 10.5% to Rs 10,910 crore in 2025-26, up from Rs 9,870 crore in current fiscal.
The CM thanked prime minister Narendra Modi for steering the country’s growth over the last decade.
Informing about the state government’s efforts to improve tax and non-tax revenues, he said, “State’s own tax revenue has witnessed a significant surge, reaching Rs 4,041 crore in the current year, marking almost a three-fold increase from Rs 1,450 crore in 2017-18.”
For 2025-26, the projected state’s own tax revenue is Rs 4,226 crore, including GST of Rs 2,094 crore, taxes on sales and trade of Rs 1,180 crore and excise of Rs 682 crore.
Meanwhile, the chief minister admitted that the state’s own non-tax revenue collection has been unpredictable in the recent past due to various judgments of courts and long drawn transition of scientific mining.
However, the outlook is optimistic with three coal mining licenses being awarded and 20 more at different stages of approval, he said.
The chief minister projected non-tax revenue of Rs 797 crore in 2025-26.
Given the increased transfers from the Centre and projected state receipts, the total expenditure for 2025-26 has been pegged at Rs 30,003 crore, he said.
“This is a 3-fold increase in expenditure over the 8-year period, which is one of the highest growth rates in the country – expenditure in 2017-18 was only Rs 9,858 crore; country’s expenditure during the same period has increased by 2-3 times,” Sangma said.
“The total expenditure of Rs 30,003 crore comprises Rs 23,353 crore state expenditure and Rs 6,650 crore CSS expenditure. Total revenue expenditure for the year is Rs 20,556 crore and capital expenditure is Rs 9,447 crore. Notably, the projected capital expenditure is a seven-fold increase from 2017-18 levels of Rs 1,435 crore,” he stated.
Deliberating on the Meghalaya Mission 10 – the ten opportunities and ten commitments, Sangma said, “To achieve our GSDP target, we need substantial private sector investments amount to at least $1 billion, or approximately Rs 8,500 crore.”
“Every Meghalayan and every region of our beautiful state should reap the benefits of higher economic growth. As Abraham Lincoln said ‘commitment is what transforms a promise into reality’. Our government’s ten commitments reflect this dedication, and we will achieve these by 2032 when the state celebrates its diamond jubilee,” he added.
Meanwhile, the chief minister has allocated Rs 3,654 crore to the education department, including Rs 2,770 crore from the state resources, out of which Rs 1,403 crre is for grants-in-aid salaries and Rs 170 crore is for taking up capital works.
The overall allocation for Public Works Department (PWD) is Rs 2,873 crore, Health and Family Welfare at Rs 2,176 crore, Power at Rs 1,088 crore, PHE at Rs 866 crore and Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare at Rs 618 crore.
