CM Sukhu to present 2025-26 Budget on March 17

Shimla: Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu will present the Budget for 2025-26 in the state Assembly on March 17. This will be his third Budget to be presented in the House, to outline the government’s financial roadmap and key allocations for the coming year. The Budget session of the state Assembly will begin on March 10 with the Governor’s address on March 10. The state Cabinet which met on Saturday recommended to the Governor for convening the session from March 10 to 28, 2025. The Cabinet meeting also granted approval to grant 60-day special maternity leave to female government employees in case of stillbirth or the death of a child soon after birth. Additionally, the government has cleared the declaration of pending results for 699 posts across six post codes, excluding the tainted posts, and approved various infrastructure and service upgrades. The Cabinet gave its approval to upgrade 16 sanctioned posts of Assistant Professor to Associate Professor in various departments at Himachal Pradesh Government Dental College, Shimla. Additionally, it gave its nod to start B.Tech (Artificial Intelligence and Data Science) and B. Tech (Computer Science) courses at Rajiv Gandhi Government Engineering College at Nagrota Bagwan in Kangra district, along with the creation and filling of eight posts in different categories.

The Cabinet has decided to introduce a new diploma course, Computer Science and Engineering (Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning), at Government Polytechnic College, Sundernagar, in Mandi district. The govt will also establish the department of Nuclear Medicine at Lal Bahadur Shastri Medical College, Nerchowk, in Mandi district. The Cabinet approved the auction-cum-tender process for collecting entry tax for the financial year 2025-26, with an expected additional revenue of Rs. 11.56 crore compared to the year 2024-2025. Additionally, the Cabinet also decided to implement the FASTag facility at all entry toll barriers in a phased manner. In the first phase, FASTag will be introduced at the toll barriers in Garamaura (Bilaspur), Parwanoo (Main) and Tiara Bypass (Solan), Govindghat (Sirmaur), Kandwal (Nurpur), Mehatpur (Una), and Baddi (Solan).