Leh, June 15: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today met Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh Brig (Retd) BD Mishra and senior officers of the UT administration to review development, release and use of funds because of limited working season and various other issues faced by the administration.
She also addressed the ‘Credit Outreach Programme’ in which she briefed about commitment of the Central Government for all round development of Ladakh.
On second day of her three-day visit to the UT, the Union Finance Minister met the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh in which she had detailed discussions about ongoing developmental works and finances of the UT.
The meeting lasted half an hour, sources told the Excelsior. Finances in Ladakh have become a big problem in current financial year of 2025-26 due to Rs 1266 crore worth cut in the budget by the Finance Ministry resulting to Rs 72 crore each decline in the grants of Leh and Kargil Autonomous Hill Development Councils.
Leh Hill Council which is being ruled by the BJP for two consecutive terms will complete its five-year tenure in September-October this year. Sitharaman had separate meeting with senior officers of the administration of Ladakh to take review of ongoing works in the UT and more projects to be taken up during current financial year.
She was given project-wise analysis by the senior officers. “There are chances that in the Revised Estimates later this year, Ladakh may get some additional grants to compensate for the budgetary cut,” the sources said.
Later, the Finance Minister virtually inaugurated several development projects in Leh, reaffirming commitment of the Central Government to inclusive growth and infrastructure development in the Union Territory of Ladakh.
The projects inaugurated by Sitharaman will benefit the locals a lot, the sources said. Later, Sitharaman delivered keynote address at the Credit Outreach Programme in Leh in which she handed over sanction letters from banks of loans worth Rs 5.13 crore to beneficiaries under various Central Government schemes including PM Mudra Yojana, PM Vishwakarma Yojana, PMEGP, PM Micro Food Processing Enterprises Scheme (PMFME) and Joint Liability Group (JLG).
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