New Delhi- Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman here as part of pre-Budget consultations, officials said.
The meeting at Sitharaman’s North Block office went on for more than 30 minutes and was “cordial”, they said.
The finance minister is scheduled to present the Union Budget on February 1.
This is the second meeting between the two leaders in two months.
Sources said that Omar Abdullah called on the Union Finance Minister to seek liberal funding for Jammu and Kashmir.
They said that the Chief Minister pushed for enhancing financial support to the UT for minimizing liabilities of the last financial year.
“The CM is believed to have sought additional financial support from Centre for minimizing liabilities of Rs 10000-12000 crore accumulated in 2023-24,” they said.
Omar, according to the sources, held pre-Budget consultations with the Union Finance-Minister and sought much-needed support from the Centre for the region.”
“The Finance Minister assured all possible support to J&K Chief Minister and assured him that his concerns will be addressed,” sources said, adding that the J&K Chief Minister’s meeting with the Union Ministers is an ongoing process of administrative work.
Pertinently, Omar had met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on November 15, 2024 and today’s meeting was his second within a span of one and a half month.
After meeting the Finance Minister Omar Abdullah had shared on Instagram- “Called on Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, smt.@nsitharaman ji. Our discussion centred around crucial economic matters concerning Jammu and Kashmir. I passionately advocated for much-needed support from the Union Finance Ministry for the region.”
He had expressed optimism that collaborative efforts with the Central Government would enhance financial stability and promote sustainable development in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Chief Minister had sought support of the Union Finance Minister to avail the multilateral funding for development of new tourism destinations in Jammu & Kashmir, aimed to decongest the existing locations and to create well-planned and world-class infrastructure at these new identified locations.
The CM had thanked the Ministry of Finance for approving the Competitiveness Improvement of Agriculture & Allied Sectors Project (JKCIP) for Jammu & Kashmir to rejuvenate the agriculture sector which entails financing of 100 million USD through International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) over the next 7 years.
In this regard CM had requested the Ministry of Finance to treat J&K at par with North Eastern States for availing incentives in respect of Externally Aided Project (EAP) loans and making J&K eligible for special lending arrangement under the EAP loans.
He had also requested the Finance Minister to consider Jammu & Kashmir for funding through the “Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment” scheme under which a 50-year interest free loan would be provided to states for capital expenditure.
The CM had also informed the Finance Minister about the difficult fiscal situation being faced by J&K and requested the Ministry to provide additional central assistance of Rs 6000 crore to bridge the resource gap in the UT budget for FY 2024-25
Omar called on Sitharaman in November for his first meeting with the finance minister since taking charge as Jammu and Kashmir chief minister.
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