While presenting her fifth Union Budget on February 1, Nirmala Sitharaman called it the budget of Amritkal.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented a budget of Rs 1.18 lakh crore for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir for the financial year 2023-24 in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

In this, emphasis has been laid on providing housing in rural areas and providing clean water to 18.36 lakh families.

The budget promises to double the state's gross domestic product (GDP) in five years.

In this, emphasis has been laid on strengthening grassroots democracy, promoting sustainable agriculture, facilitating investment and industrial development, employment generation, accelerated growth and inclusive growth and women empowerment and social inclusion.

Sitharaman said that Kashmir can get rail connectivity with the rest of the country by the end of 2023 and the government is planning to bring metro rail in Jammu and Srinagar in the next financial year.

"The total budget estimate for the financial year is Rs 1,18,500 crore, of which developmental expenditure is Rs 41,491 crore," he said in his budget speech in the Lok Sabha.

He said that the estimated revenue receipts are Rs 1,06,061 crore, while the revenue expenditure was expected to be Rs 77,009 crore.

With this, a revenue surplus of Rs 29,052 crore will be available for capital expenditure.

Sitharaman said, "The tax/GDP ratio for the financial year 2023-24 is estimated at 8.82 per cent, which is higher than the previous year's 7.77 per cent."

He said that the debt/GDP ratio for the financial year 2023-24 has been pegged at 49 per cent and the GDP growth has been estimated at Rs 2,30,727 crore, which is 10 per cent higher than the previous year.

The Finance Minister said that all 18.36 lakh households in Jammu and Kashmir will have functional tap connections by 2023-24.

Every household will be provided drinking water of prescribed quality with a minimum of 55 liters per person per day on regular and permanent basis.

The finance minister allocated Rs 2,526.74 crore to agriculture and horticulture, Rs 2,097.53 crore to health and medical education, Rs 4,169.26 crore to rural department, Rs 1,964.90 crore to power sector, Rs 7,161 crore to Jal Shakti department, housing and urban development Allocated Rs 2,928.04 crore, Rs 1,521.87 crore for education and Rs 4,062.87 crore for construction of roads and bridges.

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