MHA Restores Lieutenant Governor’s Financial Powers in Ladakh
MHA restores project approval authority up to Rs 100 crore.
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has taken a significant step to enhance administrative efficiency in union territories by restoring delegated financial powers to the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, specifically granting authority for the appraisal and approval of development projects valued up to Rs 100 crore, in line with the updated Delegation of Financial Powers Rules, 2024.
Issued on January 2, 2026, the official order extends these powers uniformly to administrators and Lieutenant Governors across all union territories without legislatures, encompassing Ladakh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, and Lakshadweep, thereby streamlining decision-making processes for infrastructure and developmental initiatives in these regions.
This decision effectively reverses a prior MHA directive from mid-December 2025 that had temporarily withdrawn the Lieutenant Governor's existing powers to sanction projects up to Rs 100 crore and simultaneously curtailed the approval limits of Administrative Secretaries to schemes costing up to Rs 20 crore, a move that had raised concerns over potential delays in local development activities.
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As per the reinstated guidelines, the Lieutenant Governor is mandated to exercise these enhanced powers only after mandatory consultation with the Secretary (Finance) or the equivalent Financial Advisor within the union territory, while strictly ensuring the presence of adequate budgetary provisions, and the order explicitly prohibits any further sub-delegation of this authority to maintain centralized oversight.
Furthermore, to promote transparency and accountability, the affected union territories must furnish detailed quarterly reports on all proposals approved under these delegated powers directly to the Department of Expenditure via the MHA, with all sanctions remaining aligned to prevailing appraisal norms set by the Ministry of Finance, superseding the earlier contradictory order dated September 19, 2025.
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