-NDTV Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government today revived a traditional water resource management system involving public in the state's worst drought in more than a century. The government has taken the initiative to revive the 'Kudimaramathu' tradition that involves engaging farmers and local people to de-silt and look after tanks and ponds with a Budget of Rs. 100 crore. K Sundaram, a small farmer at Manimangalam in Kancheepuram district, who has joined...

-IANS Shimla: Himachal Pradesh, whose economy largely banks on agriculture and horticulture, aims to develop bio villages by promoting organic farming. The state is also eyeing investment in cold chains. An additional 2,000 hectares will be brought under organic farming and there are plans to develop 200 bio-villages in the next fiscal, a government spokesperson told IANS. He said farmers in the bio-villages would use only bio-fertilizers and bio-pesticides and discourage...

-The Indian Express One of the key issues that any incoming government in Punjab has to immediately grapple with is high state debt estimated at Rs 1.25 lakh crore in the last year’s Budget. A clutch of other key reforms such as improving land allotment process and streamlining property registration would also need the attention of the new government. Punjab has steadily accumulated the debt over the years, resulting in its...

-The Economic Times blog In every Union Budget presentation, agriculture is given a place of prominence. This is not surprising, given that 50% of India’s population is dependent on agriculture. Budget 2017 was no different. Both the Economic Survey and the Budget speech stressed heavily on improving agricultural infrastructure and augmenting farmer incomes. The key drivers expected to set this off are areas such as investment in irrigation infrastructure, development of mandis...

-PTI New Delhi: A Rs. 48,000-crore Budget for the national capital was presented today by the AAP Government, laying major focus on improving transport, health, water distribution and education infrastructure. In its third Budget, the Arvind Kejriwal Government abolished the Plan and non-Plan expenditure heads and presented it in terms of revenue and capital classification in line with the Centre’s decision. There was no proposal on levying any new tax. 'Outcome Budget' In a first,...