New Delhi: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday said that a state like Odisha will be the biggest beneficiary of the budget as presented in the Parliament on February 1.
Pradhan thanked Prime Minister Modi, Union Finance Minister Sitharaman and Union Railway Minister Ashwani Baishnab for providing a grant of Rs 10,599 crore to Odisha in the railway sector in the current budget.
He said at a press conference in New Delhi that this record amount of railway grant will further strengthen the railway infrastructure in Odisha and make passenger facilities easier.
The Union Minister said that in 2036, Odisha will complete 100 years of its formation as a separate province on the basis of the Odisha language and in 2047, the country will complete 100 years of independence.
“Keeping this in mind, the budget for 2025-26 has been prepared for a developed Odisha and a developed India. Special emphasis has been given in this budget to everything from the birth of a child to advanced research and skill development in youth,” he said.
With the support of the double engine government from the budget, a state with immense potential like Odisha will grow, Pradhan asserted.
The budget will empower the poor, farmers, women, youth, deprived, backward classes and the disabled, he said and added, “The standard of living of people living in villages will improve. Education, skill development, research and innovation will be encouraged. Sectors like industry, energy, tourism and related infrastructure will get further momentum. Employment will increase in Odisha.”
This budget will go a long way in fulfilling the vision set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the progress and development of Odisha by participating in the recently held Make in Odisha Conclave-2025, the Union Minister said.
The Union Minister said that under the Sahayak Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 programs, more than 36 lakh children, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers of Odisha will be provided with nutritional assistance.
“In the next five years, 50,000 Atal Tinkering Labs have been set up in government schools. Under the BharatNet project, all 3,659 government secondary schools and all primary health centers in rural areas that do not have internet and broadband connections will be provided with internet and broadband connections,” he added.
Asserting that Odisha will benefit a lion’s share from all these schemes, he said the government is going to launch the ‘Indian Language Book Scheme’ to provide digital books to students which will help promote the Odia language.
“Under the PM Research Fellowship Scheme, 10,000 fellowships will be provided for technical research in IITs and IISc in the next five years. Under the Gyan-Bharat Mission initiative, ancient manuscripts of Odisha will be preserved. This will ensure that the rich culture, literature and history of our state will be preserved for future generations,” Pradhan added.
Pradhan said that the budget has made provision for covering 100 districts under the PM Dhan Dhanya Krishi Yojana and a developed agriculture-district programme which will particularly benefit an agricultural state like Odisha.
“Cotton Production Mission will promote cotton production in districts like Kalahandi, Balangir, Kandhamal, Koraput, Rayagada, Nuapada, Ganjam, Gajapati, Boudh, Sonepur and Bargarh,” he said.
The credit limit for Kisan Credit Card holders in Odisha has been increased from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. This will benefit 40 lakh Kisan Credit Card holders in Odisha, he said.
The Compressive Multispectral Rural Property and Vigilance Programme will empower and benefit farmers of all categories, the Union Minister emphasised and added that the provision made in the budget for higher production of national crops like National Mission for Edible Oil Seeds and Pulses will benefit Odisha.
A corpus of Rs 25,000 crore in the form of Maritime Development Fund will be created to accelerate the development of ports in the maritime sector of Odisha, establishment of new ports and acceleration of maritime trade, Pradhan said adding, “States like Odisha, which have shipbuilding clusters, will benefit from the Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Policy 2.0.”
The revised UDAN scheme will connect 120 new destinations. Under this, airports at Jamadarpali in Sambalpur, Birsal in Dhenkanal, Rasgobindpur in Mayurbhanj, Rangeilunda in Ganjam and Raikala in Keonjhar can be developed, increasing regional connectivity, he said.
A national framework will be prepared as a guideline for the states to promote Global Capability Centres in emerging Tier-II cities which will enable Odisha to set up Global Capability Centres in cities like Bhubaneswar, Sambalpur, Balasore and Berhampur.
Various cities of Odisha can be developed with the Urban Challenge Fund of Rs 1 lakh crore and clean drinking water and sanitation will be given priority in those cities.
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) have been given priority in the budget and te loan guarantee for micro and small enterprises has been increased from Rs 5 crore to Rs 10 crore, he said.
“The loan guarantee for startups has been increased from Rs 10 crore to Rs 20 crore. The Fund of Funds system for startups has been increased from Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore. A new scheme has been announced for 5 lakh women, SC, ST and ST entrepreneurs who are entrepreneurs for the first time,” Pradhan said.
The scheme for the gaming sector will ensure cluster development in Odisha, said he and added that a policy will be brought for the recovery of important minerals and critical minerals.
“Odisha has a large number of iron ore and bauxite mines, from which a huge amount of mining waste is generated. The new policy, if implemented, will help recover important minerals from this waste,” he said.
While Odisha has immense potential for tourism, the provisions made in the budget will help develop 2 to 4 important tourist destinations in the state, he said.
