Kolkata, May 15: The West Bengal Assembly budget session will begin on June 18, with the full budget set to be presented on June 22 by the finance minister of the first BJP-led state government since independence. This announcement was made by the newly elected Speaker, Rathindra Bose, during a special session of the Assembly on Friday.
As the full budget is scheduled for June 22, it is anticipated that the new cabinet, led by West Bengal’s ninth Chief Minister, Suvendu Adhikari, will announce the name of the new finance minister by then.
Earlier this year, on February 5, the previous cabinet led by Mamata Banerjee had presented an interim (account-based) budget in the Assembly, introduced by the former state finance minister (independent charge), Chandrima Bhattacharya.
Due to the assembly elections held in April, the full budget could not be presented.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister’s office has instructed all departmental secretaries to begin preparations for the state budget.
An expert from the state finance department, with extensive experience in budget preparation, indicated that the upcoming full budget will be based on the promises made in the ruling party’s election manifesto prior to the assembly elections. The primary aim of the budget will be to identify alternative sources of tax revenue for the state, reduce the heavy burden of accumulated debt, control the soaring non-plan recurring expenditure, and improve capital expenditure.
The state budget will be presented at a time when the state treasury is in a challenging situation, grappling with its tax revenue from the excise department, a staggering accumulated debt of over ₹7 lakh crore, and soaring non-plan recurring expenditures.
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