Paving way for presenting the budget for current fiscal in the Legislative Assembly, the Central government has approved the annual outlay of ₹14,300 crore fixed by the Puducherry government for the financial year 2026- 27.
The presentation of a full budget was due in August. As of now, the government was meeting the expenditure requirements from the vote on account of ₹5,396 crore presented by Chief Minister N. Rangasamy in February while he was heading the first National Democratic Alliance government in the Union Territory.
After the NDA returned to power in the Assembly polls, last month in a consultative meeting attended by Lieutenant Governor K. Kailashnathan, Mr. Rangasamy had projected an outlay of ₹14,300 crore for the current fiscal. Subsequently, a proposal was submitted to the Ministry of Home Affairs seeking approval for laying the Annual Financial Statement (AFS) for 2026-27 in the Assembly.
On July 13, the MHA had intimated the Puducherry administration of the approval given by the President for the outlay projected by the U.T. government. In a communication to the Puducherry Chief Secretary, Under Secretary to Government of India Lendup Sherpa said, “the proposal has been examined in consultation with the Ministry of Finance and accordingly convey the approval of President of India for laying AFS before the Legislative Assembly.”
Now that the approval has come for presenting the budget, the question on the date for convening the Legislative Assembly remains unanswered. There are no signs of election to the Speaker post and allocation of portfolios as Chief Minister has so far remained non-committal on the two crucial aspects before convening the budget session.
According to official sources, at the administrative level, preparations were made for presenting the budget immediately after the election results. After declaration of Assembly election results, the Chief Secretary had held detailed discussions at the level of Secretary and heads of departments in May, to assess the sector-wise fund requirement based on previous financial year’s budgetary provision and spending.
“We have made department-wise presentation on the allocation made in the last budget, amount spent and fund requirement for the current financial year. Now that the AFS has also been approved, convening and presentation of the budget is under the purview of the political executive,” said an official.
Mr. Rangasamy, the founder leader of the All India N R Congress and who heads the NDA in the Union Territory, has not commented on the budget session till now. In the recent times, the Chief Minister had avoided questions from media on the Speaker election and allocation of portfolios despite inviting criticism from various quarters, including the Opposition parties, for not putting in place a functional government even two months after the swearing-in of the Chief Minister and Ministers.
The AINRC’s ruling ally, Bharatiya Janata Party, has put the onus on the Chief Minister for electing the Speaker and allocating the portfolios. A few days ago, former party legislator in Tamil Nadu Assembly Vanathi Srinivasan while addressing a press conference along with Puducherry BJP president V. P. Ramalingam had stated that their party was only a junior partner, hence not a decision-maker in Puducherry. The Chief Minister had to answer the questions on Speaker election and portfolio allocation, they had said.
When The Hindu contacted the BJP in-charge for the Union Territory, Nirmal Kumar Surana, after the communication from the MHA approving the budget outlay, he said, “We [BJP] leaders did not have any discussion with the Chief Minister in the last two weeks. Around 15 days ago, I had met him to convey our party leadership’s desire to see the Speaker election held as early as possible and portfolios allocated. After that we had not held any talks with the AINRC. The delay certainly is not because of us. The Chief Minister can only clarify on the delay.”
Published - July 14, 2026 09:30 pm IST