Kerala Budget 2025- Without Pushing, Without Rejecting’ State Budget; Announcements at a Glance

Kerala – The State Budget for 2025, presented by Finance Minister KN Balagopal, has been described as a practical one, aimed at addressing the state’s financial needs without large-scale announcements. This budget, marking the last full budget of the second Pinarayi Vijayan government, is focused on efficiently managing the state’s resources and addressing urgent needs without taking major risks. The following is a summary of key budget announcements-

Service Pension Arrears: The final installment of Rs 600 crore towards service pension reforms will be disbursed in February 2025.

Salary Revision Arrears: Two installments of the salary revision arrears for employees will be paid in the current financial year, and they will be merged with their Provident Fund (PF).

DA Arrears: The lock-in period for two installments of Dearness Allowance (DA) arrears has been waived in the current financial year.

Daily Wage Employees’ Wage Increase: A 5% increase in the wages of daily wage contract employees across the state.

Housing Loan Scheme for Employees: The government will strengthen the housing loan scheme for employees by offering a 2% interest subsidy on loans from banks and financial institutions. Rs 50 crore has been allocated for this initiative.

Famine Relief: A famine relief installment will be given to state government employees and pensioners in April 2025.

Pension Scheme Overhaul: The Participatory Pension Scheme will be replaced by the Assured Pension Scheme starting in 2025-26.

Wayanad Rehabilitation Project: A project worth Rs 750 crore will be implemented to rehabilitate Wayanad.

Thiruvananthapuram Metro Rail: The initial operations of the Thiruvananthapuram Metro Rail will begin in 2025-26.

Housing Development in Rural Areas: The LIFE Mission will see the construction of 1 lakh individual houses and 19 housing complexes in rural areas with an allocation of Rs 1160 crore.

Local Self-Government Budget: The total allocation for local self-government bodies has been increased to Rs 15,980.49 crore, a rise of Rs 774.99 crore, with a 28% increase in project allocation.

Health Sector Allocation: A significant allocation of Rs 10,431.73 crore has been made for the health sector.

Karunya Health Scheme: Rs 700 crore allocated to the Karunya Health and Safety Scheme.

Infrastructure Development: Rs 4219.41 crore allocated for roads and bridges, alongside Rs 212 crore for the Digital Science Park’s permanent campus.

IT and Startup Missions: The Kerala Startup Mission has received Rs 10 crore to set up a GPU cluster, while Rs 1 crore will be allotted to organize the Agentic Hackathon.

K-Homes Tourism Project: Rs 5 crore for the initial phase of the K-Homes project, aimed at tourism development using vacant houses in areas like Kovalam, Munnar, Kumarakom, and Fort Kochi.

Hydrogen Valley Project: Rs 10 crore to study and develop the potential of hydrogen production in Kerala.

Irrigation and Flood Management: Rs 535.90 crore is allocated for crop management, while Rs 2063 crore will be used for market interventions to control price hikes.

Rice and Coconut Development: Rs 100 crore for rice cultivation development and Rs 73 crore for coconut development initiatives.

Soil and Water Conservation: Rs 77.99 crore allocated for soil and water conservation efforts across the state.

Animal Husbandry: Rs 317.90 crore allocated for animal husbandry development, with an additional Rs 120.93 crore for dairy development.

Coastal Development: A special Rs 100 crore package will be dedicated to the comprehensive development of coastal regions.

Fishermen Welfare: Rs 5 crore has been set aside to establish a net manufacturing factory in Neendakara, Kollam, and Rs 10 crore for renovating fishermen’s homes. A group insurance scheme will also be introduced for 2.36 lakh fishermen.

Flood Control: Rs 75 crore is allocated for a forest conservation project aimed at reducing wildlife attacks, with additional funds for Kottoor Elephant Rehabilitation Center and various elephant sanctuaries.

Rural Development: Rs 7099 crore has been allocated for rural development, including a state share of Rs 80 crore for the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana.

Poverty Reduction: Rs 60 crore as gap funding for Kerala’s efforts to eliminate extreme poverty, aiming to make 11,814 families poverty-free.

Energy Sector Initiatives: Rs 1157 crore allocated for the energy sector, with Rs 100 crore dedicated to the Pumps & Storage project to enhance electricity generation capacity.

Non-conventional Energy: Rs 67.96 crore allocated for non-conventional energy projects, alongside Rs 5 crore for electrifying remote tribal villages.

Industrial Sector: A total of Rs 1831.36 crore has been set aside for industrial development, with Rs 254.93 crore for small-scale industries and Rs 795.09 crore for medium and large industries.

IT and Startups: The IT sector has received an allocation of Rs 517.64 crore, with an additional Rs 10 crore for the Fund of Funds of the Kerala Startup Mission.

Public Transport: A total of Rs 2065.01 crore for the transport sector, with Rs 65 crore allocated for the development of non-major ports.

Cultural and Infrastructure Projects: Rs 5 crore for setting up a marina in Kollam and Rs 1 crore for an eco-tourism project in Sasthamkotta, Kollam. Additionally, Rs 2 crore for the construction of the Aranmula Boat Race main pavilion.

Police Modernization: Rs 104 crore is allocated for the modernization of the police department.

Rebuild Kerala Initiative: A major allocation of Rs 1000 crore has been earmarked for the Rebuild Kerala Initiative project.

Education Sector: The total budget allocation for the general education sector is Rs 2391.13 crore, with additional funds for the school uniform project and modern cath labs in various medical colleges.

Social Welfare: Rs 5 crore has been set aside for the construction of the Hajj House, while Rs 3 crore is allocated to provide menstrual cups to female students and Kudumbashree members across the state.

Kerala Budget 2025

This practical and focused budget intends to balance the immediate needs of the state while also investing in long-term infrastructure and development projects across various sectors, from healthcare to industrial growth.

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