Speaking from Gairsain (Bharadisain) — Uttarakhand's symbolic summer capital — Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Tuesday, 27 October 2026 laid out a sweeping economic case for the state's future, anchoring a ₹7,844.18 crore supplementary budget for 2026-27 to the larger ambition of making Uttarakhand a 'developed, prosperous and self-reliant' state by 2047.

From ₹2.55 lakh crore to ₹3.82 lakh crore: the GSDP leap

Dhami opened with the headline numbers. In 2022, Uttarakhand's Gross State Domestic Product stood at approximately ₹2.55 lakh crore. By 2026-27, that figure is estimated to reach ₹3.82 lakh crore — a near-50% expansion in four years. Per capita income has tracked the same arc, rising from roughly ₹1.95 lakh to ₹2.74 lakh over the same period.

The entrepreneurial ecosystem tells a parallel story. Startups in the state have grown from 702 to 1,978, while MSME units have jumped from around 60,000 to one lakh. Multidimensional poverty, the Chief Minister noted, has also declined — a claim backed by Uttarakhand's joint first rank nationally in NITI Aayog's SDG India Index 2023-24, where the state scored 79 points.

What ₹7,844 crore buys: the line-by-line breakdown

The supplementary budget splits into ₹4,164.32 crore in capital expenditure and ₹3,679.86 crore in revenue expenditure. The single largest provision is ₹1,100 crore under the Annapurti Yojana for state procurement of paddy and wheat directly from farmers — a direct income-support play for Uttarakhand's agrarian communities.

Infrastructure gets ₹500 crore under a special assistance scheme, while the Jal Jeevan Mission draws ₹300 crore for rural water supply. The Gairsain water-supply dam project — locally significant, given Tuesday's venue — has been allocated ₹122 crore. An upcoming Divya Kumbh festival and the Haridwar-Ganga Corridor, along with the Nanda Rajjat Yatra, collectively receive roughly ₹290 crore for infrastructure and logistics.

On social investment: the Atal Ayushman Yojana gets ₹100 crore, employees' Golden Card health cover ₹125 crore, and medical education — including the Pithoragarh and Rudrapur Medical Colleges — approximately ₹160 crore. Digital learning across schools and universities draws ₹200 crore. Youth competitive-exam support, a sports university, a women's sports college, athlete training and scholarships also find line items in the budget.

Local bodies get a bigger share of the tax pie

Perhaps the most structurally significant provision is the proposed increase in local body devolution. Acting on the recommendations of the Sixth State Finance Commission, the government proposes raising local bodies' share of state tax revenue from 10.5% to 12.5% — with ₹721 crore earmarked for the purpose. This transfer would give rural panchayats and urban municipalities direct, discretionary resources for development projects rather than routing everything through state departments.

Viksit Bharat 2047 and 26 years of statehood

Dhami placed the budget within a longer arc. Uttarakhand completes roughly 26 years as a state — it was carved out of Uttar Pradesh in November 2000 after a sustained popular movement. The Chief Minister credited that movement's activists, the hard work of residents, and grassroots participation for the state's progress. He explicitly aligned Uttarakhand's 2047 roadmap with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Viksit Bharat @2047 national vision.

He also stressed process: pre-budget consultations over the past five years have gathered inputs from farmers, women, youth, entrepreneurs and sectoral representatives. The government, he said, has maintained a revenue surplus position while prioritising financial discipline, transparency and efficient use of public money.

Twenty-six years after statehood was won in the streets, Uttarakhand is now betting that a disciplined supplementary budget — and joint-first on the SDG index — can prove the hill state has found its economic footing. The next test is delivery.