Odisha’s Rs 2.90 Lakh Crore Budget for 2025-26: Focus on Infrastructure, Education, and Agriculture

Odisha’s Rs 2.90 Lakh Crore Budget for 2025-26: Focus on Infrastructure, Education, and Agriculture

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Monday presented a Rs 2.90-lakh crore state budget for the year 2025-26. This was the first full-fledged budget of the BJP government after the party came to power in the state last year. Earlier the CM had presented an interim budget of Rs 2.65 lakh crore for the 2024-25 fiscal in July last year.

Speaking on the provisions of budget, CM said that an outlay of Rs 1,70,000 crore was meant for program expenditure, which is more than 58.62 per cent of the total budget size and the capital outlay was Rs 65,012 crore. “The proportion of capital expenditure to total budget is the highest among all major states in the country,” he claimed.

The chief minister mentioned the allocation of Rs 37,838 crore for agriculture and allied sectors is about 12 percent increase over the previous year. Noting that around 48 per cent of the state’s workforce depends on agriculture and 80 percent of people live in rural areas, this budget allocation is crucial for the state economy. He also said, the estimates will include an allocation of Rs 2,020 crore for 'CM Kisan Yojana' and Rs 600 crore for the 'Shree Anna Abhiyan' for the promotion of millets.

Among other departments, finance got the maximum of Rs 63,511.91 crore followed by Rs 31,185.47 crore for school & mass education, Rs 28,451 crore for panchayat raj & drinking water, Rs 22,741 crore for health & family welfare, Rs 15,223 crore for women & child development and Rs 14,894 crore for water resources.

The education sector received the largest share of Rs 41,273 crore, with Rs 31,000 crore allocated for school education, marking an 18% increase from the previous year. This enhancement supports the rollout of the National Education Policy (NEP)-2020 in the upcoming academic session. As part of NEP, the state will open 45,000 pre-primary classes, known as Sishu Vatikas, across primary schools, and launch ‘Aame Padhiba Aama Bhasare’ to promote early childhood education in the mother tongue.

The state has allocated Rs 2,960 crore to upgrade 7,000 elementary schools under the Godabarisha Mishra Adarsha Prathamik Vidyalaya scheme, along with Rs 60 crore for renovating over 50 heritage schools. The government also plans to extend mid-day meals (MDM) to Class IX and X students and improve nutrition under the Mukhya Mantri Poshan Yojana, which will offer additional food items to students.

The SC/ST/OBC student scholarship scheme received Rs 1,426 crore, and a new initiative called the ‘Saheed Laxman Nayak Adarsh Vidyalaya’ will be launched with Rs 100 crore for the development of residential schools for tribal students.

For higher education, Rs 375 crore has been earmarked for infrastructure development in public universities and colleges. In a first, the state will set up tribal language labs in public universities with a budget of Rs 10 crore and launch five new centre of excellence in universities. The ‘Uttam Chhatrabruti’ scheme will provide scholarships to 30 SC/ST students annually for postgraduate and doctoral studies abroad, with an additional Rs 5 crore allocated for student exchange programs.

The budget also allocates Rs 23 crore for the Chief Minister’s Research and Innovation Fellowship Plan and Rs 20 crore for the Odisha State Research Fund. Rs 50 crore will be used to enhance accessibility and improve girls' toilets in higher education institutions. Furthermore, the government plans to increase postgraduate seats in universities and colleges by 20%.

To drive economic and social transformation, the government has committed Rs 62,206 crore for infrastructure development under its ambitious Samruddha Odisha-2036 roadmap, which aligns with the centenary celebrations of the state's formation. This includes over Rs 39,221 crore for rural development, Rs 9,985 crore for urban development, and an additional Rs 13,000 crore for a comprehensive city road decongestion plan.

A key initiative is the creation of the ‘Highways Authority of Odisha’ (HAO) to expedite highway and expressway projects, with the target of constructing 75,000 km of world-class roads by 2029-30. This will include strategic road projects such as the Atal Expressway, linking Motu in Malkangiri to Tiring in Mayurbhanj, and key road corridors like Jharsuguda-Balasore, Nuapada-Astaranga, and Jeypore-Rourkela. State highways will be upgraded to four-lane standards, while major district roads will be developed into two-lane roads.

CM also announced several new initiatives, including the Rs 30 crore ‘Shree Jagannath Darshan Yojana’ to facilitate free travel for devotees with limited financial resources to visit the Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri. A significant Rs 225 crore has been allocated for the development of the Maa Tarini Temple complex in Keonjhar. For tourism, Rs 820 crore has been allocated, focusing on infrastructure development, community empowerment, and sustainable tourism practices.

“The revenue surplus is projected at 3 percent of the GSDP, while the fiscal deficit is projected at 3.2 percent of the GSDP. Year-end debt stock is expected to remain at 12.7 percent of the GSDP. Therefore, the annual budget is fully Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management compliant,” CM Mohan Majhi claimed.