(1) Key takeaways Tamil Nadu budget 2025
In its final full budget before the 2026 Assembly elections, the M.K. Stalin-led government sought to strike a balance by catering to its core voter base—women and government employees—while addressing key sectors of the economy.
The budget has a total disbursement outlay of ₹4,39,293 crores, excluding public debt, with total receipts being ₹3,32,330 crores. Here is a look at where the money comes from, and where it is to be spent.
For 2025-26, Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) (nominal) is estimated to be ₹35,67,818 crores. The GSDP (nominal) is estimated to grow 14.5% in 2025-26, marginally up from the 14.49% nominal growth rate registered in the revised estimates of 2024-25, with the real growth rate estimated at 9% and average inflation of 5.5%.
Fiscal deficit is estimated at ₹1,06,963 crores for 2025-26, highest since 2021-22. However, fiscal deficit as a percentage of GSDP is expected to fall to 3% in 2025-26, from 3.26% in 2024-25. Fiscal deficit is the difference between total receipts and total expenditures laid out in the budget.
Capital expenditure for 2025-26 was estimated to be ₹57,231 crores. Capital expenditure refers to expenses incurred in the creation of fixed assets like civic infrastructure, buildings, and investments made in Public Sector Undertakings.
While the State’s overall debt burden is expected to rise to ₹9,29,959.3 crore, the Debt to GSDP ratio remains within the prescribed limits at 26.07%. Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu, presenting the Tamil Nadu Budget for 2025-26, placed significant emphasis on education, archaeology, and infrastructure development in both rural and urban areas.
(2) Baloch Liberation Army hijacks train in Pakistan
The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) terrorists ambushed the Jaffar Express carrying over 400 passengers on Tuesday (March 11, 2025) in Bolan area of Balochistan and held the passengers hostage, prompting the security forces to initiate an operation that lasted until the next day evening.
Security forces stormed the hijacked train on Wednesday (March 12, 2025), bringing a dramatic end to a 30-hour siege, killing all 33 terrorists, while successfully rescuing more than 300 passengers. The Army spokesman said that a total of 354 hostages were rescued, including 37 injured passengers.
Pakistan Army on Friday (March 14, 2025) said that 18 of the 26 hostages killed by Balochistan Liberation Army militants were army and paramilitary soldiers.
The Jaffar Express, carrying 440 passengers in nine coaches, was going from Quetta to Peshawar when militants derailed it using explosives and hijacked it near the mountainous terrain of Gudalar and Piru Kunri in a tunnel 160 kilometres from Quetta.
This is the first time the BLA or any insurgent group in the Balochistan Province have resorted to hijacking a passenger train, although since last year, they have stepped up their attacks on security forces, installations and foreigners in different parts of the Province.
Balochistan has witnessed an uptick in terrorist attacks over the past year. In the past, the railway tracks in this area have been attacked by Baloch militants using rockets or remote-controlled bombs, and the BLA claimed responsibility for most of the attacks. Balochistan, bordering Iran and Afghanistan, is home to a long-running violent insurgency.
(3) Maharashtra budget 2025
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Ajit Pawar presented the State budget for 2025-26 in the legislature on March 10, with an outlay of 7.2 lakh crore rupees. Some key announcements from the budget session include a new logistics policy, a push for artificial intelligence in agriculture, a focus on spurring Mumbai’s economic growth, and irrigation projects.
Here is an overall picture of how the State gets its money from, and how it spends.
The fiscal deficit for 2025-26 is projected at 2.76%, below the 3% mark recommended for States. While lower than the revised estimates of last fiscal, it is still higher than the years before the pandemic. The fiscal deficit is the difference between total receipts and total expenditures, reflecting the borrowing requirements of the State. The chart below shows fiscal deficit as a percentage of the Gross State Domestic Product. A higher percentage means a higher portion of the State’s finances are met with borrowings.
Maharashtra’s GSDP is projected to grow at 9% over FY’ 25, which is 2.73% below the revised estimate for growth in FY ‘25.
Total receipts in the Maharashtra budget for FY ‘26 is estimated to be ₹6.99 lakh crores, which is 4.2% higher than the revised estimates of FY ‘25.
The total expenditure budget of Maharashtra for FY ‘26 is estimated to be around ₹7.57 lakh crores, which is around 3.9% higher than the revised estimate of the total expenditure over last years.
(4) Ranya Rao gold smuggling case
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized ₹12.56 crores worth of gold from Kannada actor Ranya Rao last week. Rao’s multiple trips to and from Dubai, her statement about corresponding with foreign nationals over call and arrests of foreign nationals smuggling gold shortly after Rao’s arrest point to a international smuggling syndicate, as per DRI official Abhishek Chandra Gupta.
Such international connections in gold smuggling and the significance of the Middle East (especially United Arab Emirates) in the smuggling supply chain is not new. Data between 2020 to 2023 show how at least 50% of the gold seized each year came from Myanmar and the U.A.E.
Concealment methods varied from body concealment using specially designed clothing, concealment in cabin luggage or inside the aircraft with the help of colluding airport personnel, or as part of other goods like watches, machine parts or household goods.
On average, around 100 kilograms of gold were seized per month between 2021 and 2024.
On March 8, the CBI took over the probe, including looking into the involvement of public servants. The Enforcement Directorate raided several locations in Bengaluru on March 14. Earlier, the issue became a political issue when the BJP State Unit president B.Y. Vijayendra alleged that Ranya Rao was allotted land for setting up a steel plant during the term of the Siddaramaiah Congress government. On the other hand, the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) said that 12 acres of land was allotted to Rao during the BJP government led by Basavaraj Bommai.
(5) India second-largest arms importer in world: SIPRI
India was the world’s second-largest importer of major arms in 2024, with an 8.3% share of global imports, according to a new report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, or SIPRI. Ukraine, involved in a war with Russia for the past four years, was the largest importer of major arms in the 2020-24 period, clocking a nearly hundredfold rise in imports compared with the figures for 2015-19.
The country was the biggest arms export destination for both Russia and France, though the volume with Moscow has significantly reduced.
The largest share of Indian arms imports (36%) came from Russia, a significantly smaller share than in 2015-19 (55%) and 2010-14 (72%), the report noted. Russia delivered major arms to 33 countries in 2020-24, of which two-thirds went to three countries — India (38%), China (17%), and Kazakhstan (11%).
China dropped out of the list of top 10 arms importers for the first time since 1990-94, showcasing its expanding domestic industrial base.
Published – March 17, 2025 02:14 pm IST