Assam Assembly: Rs 4,636 crore allocated for Green Budget

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: The new concept of Green Budgeting occupied a prominent place in the State Annual Financial Budget for the Financial Year 2024–25, placed in the Assam Assembly by finance minister Ajanta Neog on February 12.

An amount of Rs 4636.30 crore has been proposed for 18 departments to implement green budgeting provisions. The highest budgetary provision of Rs 1396.80 crore has been proposed by the government for green budgeting by Panchayat & Rural Development.

Green Budgeting is a Public Finance Management (PFM) tool to enable evidence- and output-based budgeting towards achieving climate and sustainability targets, allowing for efficient resource allocation towards climate change mitigation, adaptation, and environmental sustainability. A Green Budget contributes to achieving various Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as SDG 13 (climate action), SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities), SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy), and other SDGs, fostering a more sustainable and resilient future in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement and other national and state commitments.

According to the Finance Department, green budgeting aims to facilitate fiscal policies that effectively tackle the generational challenges of our time—environmental sustainability and climate change. By incorporating sustainability principles into public financial management (PFM) systems and procedures, it empowers state governments to strengthen existing initiatives and identify fiscal space for funding new initiatives. The green budget share is 10.02% of the total budget of 18 key departments, amounting to Rs. 4635 crore in FY 2024–25.

The department-wise allocation towards Green Budget FY 2024-25: Agriculture Department—Rs 165.96 crore; Animal Husbandry & Veterinary—Rs 20.28 crore; Environment & Forest Department—Rs 265.88 crore; Fishery Department—Rs 39.13 crore; Handloom, Textile & Sericulture Department—Rs 6.67 crore; Health and Family Welfare Department—Rs 519.40 crore; Irrigation Department—Rs 123.25 crore; Panchayat & Rural Development Department—Rs 1396.80 crore; Power (Electricity) Department—Rs 234.53 crore; Public Health Engineering Department—Rs 389.41 crore; Public Works (Buildings & NH) Department—Rs 327.64 crore; Public Works (Roads) Department—Rs 518.65 crore; Revenue and Disaster Management Department—Rs 32.51 crore; Science, Technology & Climate Change Department—Rs 11.17 crore; Soil Conservation Department—Rs 12.21 crore; Transport Department—Rs 42.74 crore; Water Resources (Flood Control)—Rs 244.12 crore; and Housing & Urban Affairs Department—Rs 285.95 crore.

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