Shimla, Mar 26 (PTI) The Himachal Pradesh Assembly on Wednesday passed the state's budget for 2025-26 fiscal and the related Appropriation Bill, authorising the government to spend Rs 62,387.61 crore from the Consolidated fund.

The house debated and voted on the demands in respect of health and family welfare and public works, roads and bridges, police and allied organisations and the remaining demands were passed without discussion after the speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania applied the guillotine procedure.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, who also holds the finance portfolio, had presented his third budget for 2025-26 on March 17, 2025.

No fresh tax has been imposed in the budget and 24 per cent of the total outlay would be spent on developmental works, 45 per cent on salaries and pensions of the employees, 12 per cent on interest payment, 9 per cent on debt repayment and another 9 per cent on subsidy to autonomous institutions.

Several announcements like providing 25,000 jobs to the youth, additional DA to employees and pensioners, payment arrears of revised pay scales to employees in the age group of 70 and 75 years were made in the budget which focused on tourism, rural development and green energy.

The budget deficit has been estimated at Rs 6,390 crore while the fiscal deficit is expected to be at Rs 10,338 crore. PTI BPL HVA

Appropriation authorization permits withdrawals from the Consolidated Fund under a tax-neutral state budget with defined spending priorities. The state legislature authorised expenditure for the 2025-26 fiscal year by passing the annual budget and the Appropriation Bill, permitting withdrawals from the Consolidated Fund. The assembly debated certain departmental demands while the speaker used the guillotine to pass remaining demands. The budget proposes no fresh taxes and prescribes proportional allocations to development, salaries and pensions, interest, debt repayment and subsidies, alongside fiscal and budget deficit estimates and programme commitments including employment, allowance increases, arrear payments, and sectoral priorities in tourism, rural development and green energy.