Odisha 2025-26 budget to focus on agriculture, industry, and employment: CM Majhi

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi announced on Friday that the state’s upcoming annual budget for 2025-26 will be larger than the previous fiscal year’s budget, with an emphasis on addressing the needs of the people. The Chief Minister assured that the budget would incorporate suggestions from various stakeholders to ensure it is more people-centric.

In a statement to the press after a pre-budget consultation meeting with stakeholders, CM Majhi revealed that the budget would be presented on February 17, 2025. He added that significant focus would be placed on advancing the social sector, including agriculture, industry, and employment.

In July 2024, CM Majhi had presented the 2024-25 budget, amounting to Rs 2.65 lakh crore, marking a 15 per cent increase from the previous year's budget of Rs 2.30 lakh crore. Agriculture and irrigation were key areas of focus in that budget, with a dedicated outlay of Rs 33,919 crore for agriculture—a 36 per cent increase over the previous year’s allocation. Other key components included Rs 1.55 lakh crore for programme expenditure, Rs 97,725 crore for administrative expenses, and Rs 3,900 crore for Disaster Risk Management Funds.

In December 2024, the Odisha Legislative Assembly approved a supplementary budget of Rs 12,155.70 crore, further enhancing the state’s total budget outlay for the 2024-25 fiscal.

“This year’s budget will undoubtedly be larger than last year’s,” said CM Majhi. “We have received valuable input from citizens and stakeholders about how to make the budget more inclusive and responsive to the needs of the people.”

The Chief Minister also highlighted that the state has already secured investment proposals worth Rs 2.5 lakh crore ahead of the ‘Utkarsha Odisha: Make in Odisha Conclave 2025,’ scheduled for January 28-29. Odisha is targeting a total of Rs 5 lakh crore in investment commitments during this event, which is expected to create over 1.5 lakh new jobs.

Further demonstrating his administration's commitment to employment, CM Majhi shared that 20,000 vacant government positions had been filled in the first seven months of his tenure, with plans to fill an additional 20,000 vacancies soon.