Guwahati, Feb 1: The Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), the regional party of the state, has strongly criticized Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over her announcement regarding a new unit at the Namrup Fertilizer Plant in Assam, alleging that the proposal lacks sincerity due to the absence of budgetary allocation.
In a press statement on Saturday, AJP president Lurinjyoti Gogoi and general secretary Jagadish Bhuyan questioned the credibility of Sitharaman’s claim. “The Finance Minister, in her budget speech, announced the establishment of a new unit in Namrup with an annual production capacity of 12.7 lakh metric tonnes of urea.
However, she failed to specify whether this refers to the long-promised fourth unit or an entirely new project. More importantly, no budgetary provision has been made, raising doubts about the seriousness of the announcement.”
The AJP leaders pointed out that this is the fourth such announcement by the Centre without any real progress. “In 2017, Union Minister Suresh Prabhu made a similar promise, followed by Union Fertilizer Ministers Sadananda Gowda in 2020 and Mansukh Mandaviya in 2021. Yet, no work has started.
A budget speech is meant to allocate funds, but without financial backing, how realistic is this proposal?” they asked. AJP also slammed the Union Budget 2025, calling it “disappointing, unoriginal, and detached from the economic realities of common Indians.” The party alleged that the budget fails to address growing financial distress, offering no real measures for poverty alleviation, employment generation, or industrial growth.
“Even today, 80 crore Indians rely on free ration—a reflection of the country’s severe poverty. Yet, the budget offers no concrete policies to address this crisis,” AJP stated.
The party further accused the Centre of tailoring the budget to suit BJP’s electoral ambitions in Bihar while ignoring Assam’s development needs.
Apart from the ambiguous mention of the Namrup Fertilizer Plant, the budget provides nothing substantial for the state. Gogoi and Bhuyan condemned the government for deepening national debt while failing to introduce production-driven economic policies. “This budget does not boost employment, industries, or economic growth.
Worse, it strengthens the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model to benefit corporate giants while promoting privatization of public assets,” they alleged. The AJP leaders concluded by stating that the budget lacks scientific planning and a clear economic strategy.
“This is merely a rehashed version of previous budgets, with no vision for real economic transformation. The Finance Minister didn’t even mention the Northeast in her speech, which is deeply disappointing,” they said. The party has urged the people of Assam to see through the Centre’s repeated false promises and demand real action instead of hollow announcements.
