Guwahati, Mar 24 (PTI) The Assam assembly on Monday passed the Rs 2.63 lakh crore state budget for the 2025-26 fiscal.

With the passage of the Assam Appropriation Bill, 2025, the state budget for the next fiscal was cleared, Speaker Biswajit Daimary said.

Finance Minister Ajanta Neog had on March 10 presented the state budget, announcing a series of cash incentives for people, particularly the youths and tea garden workers, and tax exemptions to the salaried section ahead of the assembly polls next year.

With a deficit of Rs 620.27 crore, she proposed no new taxes for the general public, but gave additional relief to nearly 1.5 lakh salaried people.

Assembly elections in Assam are likely to take place during March-April next year, making this the last full budget of the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led second BJP government.

The finance minister had announced to extend the tax holiday for green tea leaves for two more years to alleviate the challenges faced by the industry, while offering a one-time cash benefit of Rs 5,000 to 6.8 lakh garden workers.

Neog had also mentioned a flagship scheme – 'Chief Minister's Jibon Prerana' – to financially support graduates for one year during their job search period.

"This initiative is not an unemployment allowance, but a motivational support (prerana) to help them prepare for competitive exams, interviews and entrepreneurial pursuits. I am glad to announce Rs 2,500 per month to the graduates passing out in the year 2025 from government universities/colleges of Assam," she had said.

Besides, Neog had proposed to slash electricity rates by Re 1 per unit for Jeevan Dhara and domestic consumers having consumption up to 120 units in a month, giving relief to 48 lakh consumers. PTI TR RBT

State budget measures extend tax holiday for green tea leaves and provide targeted cash incentives and electricity tariff relief. Passage of the state budget authorised expenditures for 2025-26 through the Assam Appropriation Bill, 2025, maintaining no new general taxes while extending a tax holiday for green tea leaves and implementing electricity tariff relief for low-consumption domestic customers. The budget includes targeted fiscal measures: one-time cash benefits for tea garden workers, monthly support for graduates during a job-search period, and additional reliefs for salaried taxpayers as components of the appropriation and revenue framework.