Photo Courtesy: India Today Group
Agartala: Tripura Finance Minister Pranajit Singha Roy confirmed on September 23 that the state remains on firm financial footing. This comes despite a 4,000 crore rupee cut in gap funding prompted by 16th Finance Commission recommendations. The state budget climbed from under 15,000 crore rupees in the 2017-18 fiscal year to more than 34,000 crore rupees by 2026-27. Fiscal health is holding. Capital expenditure also saw a sharp rise, jumping from 2,500 crore rupees to 7,000 crore rupees in the current 2026-27 period.
Roy highlighted the new Pride of Hills scheme. The Centre allocated 3,450 crore rupees for this initiative to offset the gap funding losses. "Despite curtailment of Rs 4,000 crore as gap funding following the recommendation of the 16th Finance Commission, the Centre has allocated Rs 3,450 crore under a new scheme titled 'Pride of Hills'," Roy said. The government is currently scouting new methods to balance the books. Officials defended recent borrowing habits, noting that the state prioritized long-term loans with favorable terms to push development projects forward.
Employees have news coming. The government is actively weighing the formation of a pay commission to update salary structures for staff and pensioners. Roy expects this to happen after Durga Puja. Meanwhile, the state authorized a festival grant of 2,400 rupees for each Group C, Group D, and contractual worker. The payout covers 1.48 lakh employees and 85,916 pensioners. Group A and Group B personnel are not included in this package. This move creates a total financial liability of 47.16 crore rupees for the government.
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