Odisha budget session to begin on February 22

Bhubaneswar: The budget session of Odisha Assembly will begin from February 22 this year, informed Finance minister Pradeep Amat on Monday.

It was decided at the all-party meeting convened by Speaker Niranjan Pujari.

The budget session will be held in two phases from February 22 to April 7. While the first phase will be held from February 22 to March 4, the second phase will be held from March 14 to April 7.

The annual budget would be presented on February 27, said sources.

The all-party meeting decided that the state government would present the annual budget in the Assembly while the appropriation bills would be passed by March 31.

“A notification would be issued for calling of the session following the approval of Governor,” said Amat.

The government would present the annual budget after analyzing the allocations in the central budget to the state. The union budget for 2017-18 would be tabled in Parliament on February 1.

It is expected that Odisha budget for 2017-18 would cross Rs 1 lakh crore this year.