Guwahati: Assam government to gain serious push for development activities by the Union Budget 2023, said state’s chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday. He said that Assam will get an additional Rs 6400 crore of untied funds from the budget than the previous year.

He said that the rise in fund allocation for the northeastern states and Assam would directly benefit the people of the state and the growth of the region.

Sarma said, “In the case of Assam, we will benefit greatly from the increase in the budget allocation. From some Rs 25,000 crore annually, this budget has allocated Rs 31, 950 Crore for Assam which is a hike of Rs 6,400 Crore. That means that now the state government will get around Rs 550 Crore more from the Centre monthly.”

Currently, the state government receives around Rs 18,000 Crore monthly from the Centre as untied funds which the state government can utilize at its own will, he added.

The chief minister also informed that the union budget has benefited not only Assam but also the entire northeastern region. “This is for the first time that the tax devolution to all NE states is a record Rs 78,500 Crore. Even the Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) ministry allocation has crossed Rs 5,892 Crore for the first time which means that developmental activities in the entire region will get a major boost,” Sarma added.

The union budget has doubled the allocation for the northeast to Rs 5,892 crore for the financial year 2023-24. Similarly, allocation towards the Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North East Region (PM-DevINE) has increased over fivefold from Rs 400 crore in FY23 to Rs 2,200 crore this year. PM-DevINE was announced in the union budget to address developmental gaps in the northeastern region.

However, the 110.43% hike from Rs 2,800 crore was announced just ahead of the state assembly elections of Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura.