Revised Estimate shows DoNER Ministry’s allocation Enhancement by over 47%
Moa Jamir
Dimapur | February 1
The Union Budget 2025-26 does not have any specific allocation for Nagaland; however, the State is expected to benefit from some of the newly announced Central Sector Schemes (CSS) as well as common funds and announcements for the Ne.
One is enhancement of allocation for the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), which is responsible for the “planning, execution, and monitoring of development schemes and projects” in the region.
Allocation for DoNER has been increased from Rs 4006 crore in the 2024-25 (Revised) fiscal to Rs 5915 crore, indicating an increase of approximately 47.65%.
However, compared to the allocation announced in the last budget, the present amount is merely Rs 15 crore higher than the Rs 5900 crore allocated for 2024-25 or 0.25% increase, suggestive of shortfall of allocation, non-utilisation etc.
Of the total, the majority of the allocation is for CSS and projects under the Central Pool of Resources for the North-East and Sikkim, as well as schemes of the North Eastern Council (NEC), which increased from Rs 3966 crore in 2024-25 (Revised) to Rs 5879.96 crore in 2025-26.
Under this, the North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (NESIDS) saw a significant increase in allocation from Rs 1500 crore in the last fiscal to Rs 2481 crore in the current year.
Approved by the Cabinet on April 1, 2023, to ensure the “focused development” of the North-East region, the NESIDS programme provides financial assistance for infrastructure projects related to water supply, power, and connectivity—especially those promoting tourism—and projects in the social sector for creating infrastructure in primary and secondary education and healthcare.
Another major allocation was for the PM Development Initiative for the North-East Region (PM-DevINE), implemented through the North-Eastern Council, central administrative ministries, and departments to fund infrastructure based on the “felt needs” of the North-East. The allocation for this scheme increased from Rs 1394 crore to Rs 2296.96 crore.
Other allocations under the central pool included:Rs 822 crore for Schemes of the North East Council,
Rs 70 crore for the North East Enterprise Development Scheme (NEEDS), and Rs 200 crore as a special package for the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), Karbi Anglong Autonomous Territorial Council (KAATC), and Dima Hasao Autonomous Territorial Council (DHATC).
The total also included establishment expenditure.
Other announcements
Meanwhile, Nagaland and other NE states are expected to benefit from enhancement of regional connectivity under the Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) scheme.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that UDAN has enabled 1.5 crore middle-class people to meet their aspirations for speedier travel. The scheme has connected 88 airports and operationalised 619 routes, she highlighted.
The Minister announced that a modified UDAN scheme will be launched to enhance regional connectivity to 120 new destinations and carry 4 crore passengers over the next 10 years. The scheme will also support helipads and smaller airports in hilly, aspirational, and NE region districts, she added.
Sitharaman also noted that the Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 programme provides nutritional support to more than 8 crore children, 1 crore pregnant women, and lactating mothers across the country.
Around 20 lakh adolescent girls in aspirational districts and the North-East region are receiving nutritional support, and this will be appropriately enhanced, she added. The allocation for Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 was increased from Rs 20,071 crore in 2024-25 to Rs 21,960 crore in 2025-26.
The Union Budget 2025-26 also announced the Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana - Developing Agri Districts Programme, inspired by the success of the Aspirational Districts Programme.
She also highlighted that for Atmanirbharta in urea production, the Government had reopened three dormant urea plants in the Eastern region and to further augment urea supply, a plant with an annual capacity of 12.7 lakh metric tons will be set up at Namrup, Assam.
Meanwhile, apart from the existing schemes, Nagaland and NE States are expected to benefit from several other announced in the budget including Urban Challenge Fund, Mission for Vegetables and Fruits as well as National Mission on Hybrid Seeds, Fund of Funds for Startups, New Scheme for ‘Plug and Play Industrial Parks, Research, Development and Innovation etc.
