Expenditure on salaries pensions of employees to be highest 

Expenditure on salaries and pensions of employees would be the highest in the Himachal budget for 2025-26, Sukhu said, adding that out of every hundred rupees, Rs 25 would be spent on salaries and Rs 20 on pensions, while Rs 24 would be utilised for developmental works. The expenses on interest payments and debt repayments are expected to be Rs 12 and Rs 10 out of every Rs 100, respectively. Additionally, Rs 9 of every 100 rupees would be allocated for grants to autonomous institutions, he said. The committed liabilities, including salaries, pensions, interest payments, debt repayments, and grants, would consume Rs 76 out of every Rs 100.

Afforestation EVs natural farming and renewables to help Himachal become green state by 2027 

Planting trees, replacing conventional vehicles with electric ones, adopting natural farming and using more renewable and solar energy would help Himachal Pradesh turn into a green state by 2027, said Sukhu. Highlighting various initiatives in his budget speech, Sukhu said that the target of bringing 5,000 hectares under afforestation has been set for 2025-2026 and priority will be given to plants bearing wild fruits and other fruit-bearing trees. The chief minister announced the "Rajiv Gandhi Van Samvardhan Yojana", under which Yuva Mandals, Mahila Mandals, and Self Help Groups will be encouraged to plant fruit-bearing and other useful trees on barren land. Sukhu said that Himachal could be called a green state if 90 per cent of the total energy consumption (approximately 14,000 million units) is from renewable or green energy sources and now the focus is on solar and renewable energy. To achieve the goal of a green state, around 626 MW of solar projects are in various stages of development, he said and added that 500-500 kW solar projects will be set up in 100 panchayats under the Green Panchayat Scheme. As the transport sector accounts for 16-20 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions, it is essential to focus on e-vehicles. The process of replacing the old fleet with electric buses has started and 500 e-buses would be purchased in the next financial year, he informed.

Visionless budget of directionless govt: Jairam Thakur

Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur dubbed Himachal Pradesh's budget for 2025-26 "a visionless budget of a directionless government" and said it had nothing for the state and its people.
 Thakur, his predecessor, said the chief minister had announced an all-time low increase of Rs 70 crore over the previous year's budget. Capital expenditure of 24 paise for every rupee is also the lowest, he claimed. "The allocation for capital expenditure was 44 paise for every rupee during our last budget (2021-22)."  The former chief minister said the budget was disappointing for all sections of society. Health schemes such as Himacare and Sahara failed to find mention in the budget. Even after three years, the Congress is blaming the previous government for financial mismanagement, not realising that the BJP dispensation had debt liabilities of more than Rs 50,000 crore when it assumed office in 2017, he said.