The Finance Minister of Jharkhand, Mr. Radha Krishna Kishore, presented the Budget for the state for the financial year 2025-26 on March 3, 2025.

Budget Highlights

• The Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of Jharkhand for 2025-26 (at current prices) is projected to be Rs 5,56,286 crore, amounting to growth of 10% over 2024-25.
• Expenditure (excluding debt repayment) in 2025-26 is estimated to be Rs 1,36,653 crore, an increase of 12% from the revised estimates of 2024-25. In addition, debt of Rs 8,747 crore will be repaid by the state.
• Receipts (excluding borrowings) for 2025-26 are estimated to be Rs 1,25,400 crore, an increase of 13% as compared to the revised estimate of 2024-25.
• Revenue surplus in 2025-26 is estimated to be 2.6% of GSDP (Rs 14,517 crore), as compared to a revenue surplus of 2.3% of GSDP (Rs 11,864 crore) at the revised estimate stage in 2024-25.
• Fiscal deficit for 2025-26 is targeted at 2% of GSDP (Rs 11,253 crore). In 2024-25, as per the revised estimates, fiscal deficit is expected to be 2.3% of GSDP, higher than the budgeted 2% of GSDP.

Policy Highlights

• Higher Education: To promote research in higher education the government will introduce the Jharkhand Student Research and Innovation Policy, 2025. Two universities for skill and fin-tech will also be established.
• Skill Development: Rs 585 crore has been allocated for Skill Development Mission to promote skill training among youth in the state.
• Animal Husbandry: Mukhyamantri Pashudhan Vikas Yojana has been allocated Rs 255 crore to promote animal husbandry which will cover 79,000 beneficiaries.

Budget Estimates for 2025-26

• Total expenditure (excluding debt repayment) in 2025-26 is targeted at Rs 1,36,653 crore. This is an increase of 12% from the revised estimate of 2024-25. This expenditure is proposed to be met through receipts (excluding borrowings) of Rs 1,25,400 crore and net borrowings of Rs 11,253 crore. Total receipts for 2025-26 (other than borrowings) are expected to register an increase of 13% over the revised estimate of 2024-25.
• The state estimates a revenue surplus of 2.6% of GSDP (Rs 14,517 crore) in 2025-26, as compared to a revenue surplus of 2.3% of GSDP at the revised estimate stage of 2024-25.
• Fiscal deficit for 2025-26 is targeted at 2% of GSDP (Rs 11,253 crore), lower than the revised estimates for 2024-25 (2.3% of GSDP). For 2025-26, fiscal deficit limit for the states has been fixed at 3.5% of GSDP, of which 0.5% is on account of states undertaking power sector reforms.

Table 1: Budget 2025-26 – Key figures (in Rs crore)

Note: BE is Budget Estimates; RE is Revised Estimates. *Central government has been providing 50-year interest-free loans to state governments for capital expenditure since 2020-21. These loans are excluded from the calculation of the state’s borrowing ceiling. Sources: Annual Financial Statement, Jharkhand Budget Documents 2025-26;
Expenditure on Mukhyamantri Maiya Samman Yojana Under the scheme, the state provides financial support to women between 18 to 50 years of age. Eligible women are entitled to a monthly assistance of Rs 2,500. In 2025-26, the scheme has been allocated Rs 13,363 crore, which is 11% of the state’s budgeted revenue receipts. As per the revised estimates of 2024-25, the state is expected to spend Rs 7,238 crore on the scheme, 7% of its revenue receipts.Various states are now implementing such cash transfer schemes for women including Maharashtra, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, and Karnataka.   Expenditure in 2025-26

• Revenue expenditure for 2025-26 is proposed to be Rs 1,10,637 crore, an increase of 12% over the revised estimate of 2024-25. This includes the expenditure on salaries, pension, interest, grants, and subsidies.
• Capital outlay for 2025-26 is proposed to be Rs 22,621 crore, an increase of 18% from the revised estimate of 2024-25. The increase is on account of higher outlay on sectors such as education, sports, arts and culture, and water supply and sanitation. Capital outlay indicates the expenditure towards creation of assets. In 2024-25, the revised expenditure on capital outlay is estimated to be 20% lower than budgeted.
• In 2025-26, loans and advances by the state are expected to be Rs 3,396 crore, 27% lower as compared to the revised estimates of 2024-25.

Table 2: Expenditure budget 2025-26 (in Rs crore)

Sources: Annual Financial Statement, Jharkhand Budget Documents 2025-26;

Committed expenditure: Committed expenditure of a state typically includes expenditure on payment of salaries, pension, and interest. A larger proportion of the budget allocated for committed expenditure items limits the state’s flexibility to decide on other expenditure priorities, such as capital outlay. In 2025-26, Jharkhand is estimated to spend Rs 36,782 crore on committed expenditure, which is 29% of its estimated revenue receipts. This comprises spending on salaries (16% of revenue receipts), pension (8%), and interest payments (5%). In 2023-24, as per actual figures, 35% of revenue receipts were spent on committed expenditure.

Table 3: Committed Expenditure in 2025-26 (in Rs crore)

Sources: Annual Financial Statement, Jharkhand Budget Documents 2025-26;

Sector-wise expenditure: The sectors listed below account for 75% of the total expenditure on sectors by the state in 2025-26. A comparison of Jharkhand’s expenditure on key sectors with that by other states is shown in Annexure 1.

Table 4: Sector-wise expenditure under Jharkhand Budget 2025-26 (in Rs crore)

Sources: Annual Financial Statement, Jharkhand Budget Documents 2025-26;

Receipts in 2025-26

• Total revenue receipts for 2025-26 are estimated to be Rs 1,25,153 crore, an increase of 13% over the revised estimate of 2024-25. Of this, Rs 61,056 crore (49%) will be raised by the state through its own resources, and Rs 64,097 crore (51%) will come from the centre. Resources from the centre will be in the form of state’s share in central taxes (38% of revenue receipts) and grants (14% of revenue receipts).
• Devolution: In 2025-26, the state’s share in central taxes is estimated at Rs 47,040 crore, an increase of 11% over the revised estimate of 2024-25.
• Grants from the centre in 2025-26 are estimated at Rs 17,057 crore, an increase of 22% over the revised estimates for 2024-25. At the revised estimate stage, central grants are estimated to be 18% lower than budgeted. This is due to grants under centrally sponsored schemes and Finance Commission grants for local bodies being 21% and 8% lower compared to the budget estimates respectively.
• State’s own tax revenue: Jharkhand’s total own tax revenue is estimated to be Rs 35,200 crore in 2025- 26, an increase of 4% over the revised estimate of 2024-25. Own tax revenue as a percentage of GSDP is estimated at 6.3% in 2025-26, lower than the revised estimates of 6.7% in 2024-25. As per the actual figures for 2023-24, own tax revenue as a percentage of GSDP was 6.1%.

Table 5: Break-up of the state government’s receipts (in Rs crore)

Note: BE is Budget Estimates; RE is Revised Estimates.

Sources: Annual Financial Statement, Jharkhand Budget Documents 2025-26; PRS.

• In 2025-26, State GST is estimated to be the largest source of own tax revenue (44% share). State GST revenue is estimated to increase by 3% over the revised estimates of 2024-25.
• Revenue from State Excise in 2025-26 is expected to be 7% higher than the revised estimate stage of 2024-25.
• Revenue from Taxes on Vehicles and Sales Tax/VAT are estimated to be 5% and 3% higher in 2025-26 over the revised estimate of 2024-25, respectively. Further, land revenue is estimated to be 6% higher in 2025-26 compared to 2024-25.

Table 6: Major sources of state’s own-tax revenue (in Rs crore)

Sources: Annual Financial Statement, Revenue Budget, Jharkhand Budget Documents 2025-26;

Deficits, Debt, and FRBM Targets for 2025-26

The Jharkhand Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2007 provides annual targets to progressively reduce the outstanding debt, revenue deficit, and fiscal deficit of the state government.

Revenue balance: It is the difference of revenue expenditure and revenue receipts. A revenue deficit implies that the government needs to borrow to finance those expenses which do not increase its assets or reduces its liabilities. The budget estimates a revenue surplus of Rs 14,517 crore (or 2.6% of the GSDP) in 2025-26.

Fiscal deficit: It is the excess of total expenditure over total receipts. This gap is filled by borrowings by the government and leads to an increase in total liabilities. In 2025-26, the fiscal deficit is estimated to be 2% of GSDP. For 2025-26, the central government has permitted fiscal deficit of up to 3% of GSDP to states.

Additional borrowing space up to 0.5% of GSDP will also be available for undertaking certain power sector reforms.

As per the revised estimates, in 2024-25, the fiscal deficit of the state is expected to be 2.3% of GSDP. This is higher than the budget estimate of 2% of GSDP.

Outstanding debt: Outstanding debt is the accumulation of total borrowings at the end of a financial year. In 2025-26, outstanding debt is projected to be 27% of GSDP, lower than the budget estimate for 2024-25 (27.5%).

Sources: Medium Term Fiscal Policy, Jharkhand Budget Documents 2025-26;

Outstanding government guarantees: Outstanding debt of states do not include a few other liabilities that are contingent in nature, which states may have to honour in certain cases. State governments guarantee the borrowings of State Public Sector Enterprises (SPSEs) from financial institutions. As of March 31 2024, the state’s outstanding guarantees are estimated to be Rs 4,998 crore, of which 51% (Rs 2,535 crore) is accounted for by the power sector. The total outstanding guarantees of the state stood at 1.1% of GSDP (2023-24).

Annexure 1: Comparison of states’ expenditure on key sectors

The graphs below compare Jharkhand’s expenditure in 2025-26 on six key sectors as a proportion of its total expenditure on all sectors. The average for a sector indicates the average expenditure in that sector by 31 states (including Jharkhand) as per their budget estimates of 2024-25.¹

• Education: Jharkhand has allocated 13.6% of its expenditure on education in 2025-26. This is lower than the average allocation for education by states in 2024-25 (15%).
• Health: Jharkhand has allocated 5.6% of its expenditure on health in 2025-26. This is lower than the average allocation for health by states in 2024-25 (6.2%).
• Rural development: Jharkhand has allocated 12.4% of its expenditure on rural development in 2025-26. This is significantly higher than the average allocation for rural development by states in 2024-25 (5.1%).
• Police: Jharkhand has allocated 5.5% of its expenditure on police in 2025-26. This is higher than the average allocation for police by states in 2024-25 (4.1%).
• Agriculture: Jharkhand has allocated 4.5% of its expenditure on agriculture in 2025-26. This is lower than the average allocation for agriculture by states in 2024-25 (6.3%).
• Water Supply and Sanitation: Jharkhand has allocated 3.5% of its expenditure on water supply and sanitation in 2025-26. This is higher than the average allocation for the sector by states in 2024-25 (2.5%).

Annexure 2: Comparison of 2023-24 Budget Estimates and Actuals

The following tables compare the actuals of 2023-24 with budget estimates for that year.

Table 7: Overview of Receipts and Expenditure (in Rs crore)

Source: Jharkhand Budget Documents of various years;

Table 8: Key Components of State’s Own Tax Revenue

Source: Jharkhand Budget Documents of various years;

Table 9: Allocation towards Key Sectors

Source: Jharkhand Budget Documents of various years;