Manipur unrest has severely affected government’s finances, says CM Biren Singh

In his budget speech, Biren Singh says expenditure on relief and security measures has increased substantially.

Singh proposed a total expenditure of Rs 34,040 crore out of the state's consolidated fund for 2024-25. The total revenue expenditure is estimated to be Rs 20,246 crore and the capital outlay Rs 8,155 crore. (File)

Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Wednesday informed the Assembly that the ethnic strife in the state had not only created law and order issues but also severely affected the government’s finances.

“The current financial year has been the hardest year for our government. The unrest has greatly affected the state in multiple ways,” the chief minister said while presenting the budget.

The state may suffer tax losses of Rs 800 crore this year, Singh said. The actual impact, however, will be known when the state’s GDP (gross domestic product) is reconciled with the central government’s figure, he added.

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Singh said the state’s expenditure on relief and security measures had increased substantially and that the government was in constant contact with the Centre for additional support to overcome resource shortages.

Singh proposed a total expenditure of Rs 34,040 crore out of the state’s consolidated fund for 2024-25. The total revenue expenditure is estimated to be Rs 20,246 crore and the capital outlay Rs 8,155 crore. He said the fiscal deficit was estimated to be Rs 2,344 crore, 4.45 per cent of gross state domestic product.

As expected, the 10 Kuki MLAs did not attend the budget session, which will conclude on March 5.

Speaker Th Satyabrata has agreed to allow a short discussion on Thursday on the ongoing crisis, following a request from Opposition MLA K Meghachandra.

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