Guwahati: Assam Finance Minister Ajanta Neog on Monday presented Rs 2.63 lakh crore budget for the 2025-26 fiscal in the Assembly, marking a significant increase in budgetary expenditure.
The capital expenditure has risen to Rs 24,964 crore for the fiscal year 2024-25.
The budget proposes to exempt professional tax for monthly income up to Rs 15,000 for all working people in the state, where assembly elections are due early next year.
“This will benefit more than 1.43 lakh taxpayers/families and boost their purchasing capacity,” Neog said.
Presenting her last full budget for the fiscal year, Neog also announced to extend the tax holiday for green tea leaves for two more years to alleviate the challenges faced by the tea industry.
“The extension for exemption of green leaf cess for big tea estates was given in the Budget 2022 for a period of 3 years effective from 1st January 2022. Therefore, it has expired on 31st Dec 2024. In today’s budget, the green leaf cess exemption has been further extended for another 2 years under The Assam Taxation (on specified lands) Act,” she added.
A one-time financial aid of Rs 5,000 has been announced for tea workers in Assam.
The Finance Minister said, “The assistance will benefit approximately 6.8 lakh existing tea workers, with a total allocation of Rs 342 crore.”
As per the budget, the Orunodoi scheme, which supports women in the state, has been allocated Rs 5,000 crore to cover over 37 lakh women.
Mukhya Mantri Mahila Udyamita Abhiyan, aimed at encouraging women entrepreneurs, has been allocated Rs 3,038 crore and will start on April 1, 2025, in Behali.
The Mukhiya Mantri Nijut Moina scheme for promoting girls’ higher education and combating child marriage has been allocated Rs 391 crore.
The budget proposes a one-time financial assistance of Rs 25,000 will be given to promising young writers making contributions to creative science and education.
“Citizens are encouraged to gift books on birthdays and weddings to promote a reading culture. Government employees will receive Rs 1,000 to purchase books,” she added.
Additionally, Rs 200 crore has been allocated for the construction of a new Assembly building and MLA hostel in Dibrugarh, officially marking it as the second capital of Assam.
The Finance Minister said Assam will launch its own satellite, ‘ASSAMSAT’, a significant step towards utilizing space technology for governance and development.
The satellite will support areas such as agriculture, disaster management, infrastructure, border security, and policing, she added.
The project will be undertaken in collaboration with IN-SPACe and ISRO, and students from colleges and universities will be involved in experimental satellite development.
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As of May 1, 2025, Jeevan Dhara and domestic category consumers with a monthly consumption of up to 120 units will benefit from a reduced electricity rate of Rs 1 per unit.
With several provisions aimed at empowering women, farmers, tea garden workers, and government employees, the budget is designed to address the diverse needs of Assam’s citizens.
