Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Friday presented the first budget of the Union Territory, which drew flak for falling short of expectations.

The last budget that was presented in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly was in 2018.

The BJP termed the budget a “complete failure” while the PDP said it exposed a massive gap between the promises made by the NC in its poll manifesto and the reality of its governance.

This was the first budget to be presented by any chief minister in the capacity of a finance minister in the history of Jammu and Kashmir. Jammu and Kashmir can have no more than 10 ministers under the Re-organisation Act, 2019, prompting the chief minister to hold several portfolios, including finance.

The budget, with an outlay of ₹1.12 lakh crore for 2025-26, announced 200 units of free electricity and 10kg of free ration per month to Antyodaya Yojana beneficiaries.

The government also announced free rides for women on all government-owned public transport, including e-buses, from April 1. Marriage assistance for girls under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) category has been hiked from ₹50,000 to ₹75,000.

The budget also proposed the abolition of stamp duty on property transfers among blood relatives.

The PDP said the government had effectively excluded a vast majority of the state’s population by restricting the benefits to AAY families. “Out of 16 lakh ration card holders, merely 95,000 will benefit, which is just 5-7 per cent of the total population. This raises serious questions like why did the government mislead people during the elections? Why was this scheme not extended to all households, as originally promised?” the party said.

Leader of Opposition in the Assembly and BJP legislator Sunil Sharma said: “This is a betrayal with the 1.5 crore people of Jammu and Kashmir. Outside (the Assembly), he promised (free) ration to every person, (gas) cylinders, power and pension but inside (Assembly) he said it was only for AAY beneficiaries,” he said.

Peoples’ Conference chief Sajad Lone said the budget reflected a significant gap between political rhetoric and economic figures. “It glorified and endorsed the BJP’s ‘Naya Kashmir’ discourse,” he said.

Lone said the budget neglected “key employment sectors” and offered “nothing for job creation, daily wage labourers and contractual employees”.

Omar told reporters that he never claimed everything would be accomplished in one budget.