Shillong, March 5: Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, on Wednesday, presented a deficit of Rs. 1,970 crore for the current fiscal, which is around 2.96% of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP).

Excluding borrowings, the total receipts are estimated to be Rs 25,627 crore and excluding repayment of loans, the estimated total expenditure is Rs. 27,597 crore, thus leaving a fiscal deficit of Rs.1970 crore.

“I am delighted to highlight that the fiscal deficit has been maintained below the permissible limit of 3.5%,” Sangma, who also holds the finance portfolio, said in the assembly.

Additionally, Sangma also categorised the budget estimates into climate (Rs. 5,421 crore,) youth (Rs. 3,329 crore,) and gender (6,219 crore) while informing that these categories witnessed a significant budget allocation increase from the previous budget sanctions.

Sangma informed the House that the total estimated transfers from the Centre to Meghalaya are expected to rise to Rs. 20,568 crore in 2025-26, up from revised estimates of Rs. 19,242 crore in the current year.

“This growth is largely driven by India's robust economic performance. Notably, the share of central taxes is projected to increase by 10.5% to Rs. 10,910 crore in 2025-26, up from Rs. 9,870 crore in the current year,” Sangma said.

Moreover, the state government has made efforts to improve tax and non-tax revenues. The state's own tax revenue has witnessed a significant surge, reaching Rs. 4,041 crore in the current year.

“I am projecting the state's own tax revenue to reach Rs. 4,226 crore in 2025-26, comprising GST of Rs. 2,094 crore, taxes on Sales and Trade of Rs.1,180 crore and Excise of Rs. 682 crore,” the Chief Minister said.

On Meghalaya’s target of becoming a USD 10 billion economy by 2028, Sangma said the state’s economy is well on course to reach its goal. The annual growth rate for the period 2023-26 stands at 12.7 percent and the state is certain to achieve its target by 2028.

Meanwhile, the state budget allocated Rs. 2,176 crore to the Health sector, Agriculture Rs. 450 crore, Education Rs. 3,654 crore and Power sector Rs 1,088 crore.

Moreover, Sangma announced that in the current budget the booming Tourism sector is being incentivised and the state government subsidy would be increased from 35 percent to 45 percent to benefit 2000 new homestay entrepreneurs from 2025-26.