The Kerala government appears to be planning to shift the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) to Kochi from the capital Thiruvananthapuram, which has hosted the previous 30 editions of the festival.

According to the Kerala Budget for 2026-27 presented by Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan on Friday, the government will be setting up J.C. Daniel International Film City at Kochi, one of the intentions of which is to have a permanent venue for the International Film Festival of Kerala.

The plan to shift the permanent venue could face major technical problems. A festival like the IFFK, which is accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF), should have a permanent venue. The festival stands to lose its accreditation if this permanent venue is changed.

Back in 2021, at the heights of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy’s decision to organise the 25th edition of the IFFK in four phases across four regions spread out across the State had kicked up a storm. Many, including Shashi Tharoor, MP, as well as some capital-based social media groups had then alleged that this was part of an attempt to eventually move the festival out of Thiruvananthapuram, even though the academy as well as the then Culture Minister categorically stated that the capital would continue to be the permanent venue of the festival. It was supposed to be a stop-gap arrangement considering the COVID-19 pandemic situation.

The Chalachitra Academy had to obtain special permission from the FIAPF to shift the venue considering the pandemic so that the festival would not lose its accreditation. In the permission, the FIAPF clearly mentioned that the arrangement would only be for that specific year.

Previous government had also promised permanent venues for the IFFK, but all of those proposals were for a venue in Thiruvananthapuram.

The new Unied Democratic Front (UDF) government in Kerala will implement ‘Land Reforms 2.0’ for reviewing land laws that were relevant in the past and amending outdated statutes.

Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan in his revised Budget for 2026-27 that was presented in the Assembly on Friday (June 19, 2026) announced that a comprehensive ‘land management policy’ would be formulated to address structural challenges in freeing up land for industrial projects.

Kerala Revised Budget 2026-27 LIVE:

“An acute scarcity of land, limitations in land mobilisation, and a lack of legal clarity constituted formidable barriers to the State’s industrial infrastructure aspirations. Even as investors actively sought land for projects, vast tracts of land held by government departments and public sector undertakings remained unutilised or entangled in red tape,” he pointed out.

A land management framework would be established, supported by legislation, to create a land bank utilising such surplus and unused land parcels. The procedure for converting land for commercial enterprises would be expedited.

For large-scale projects, a land pooling framework would be introduced. Government agencies such as KINFRA and INKEL would be empowered to handle land acquisition processes and subsequent activities in a transparent and professional manner.

He said, “The policy would be instrumental in harnessing land resources for the State’s future.”

A commission would be constituted for studying the requirements of forming new districts and taluks, according to the Budget that earmarks ₹76.7 crore for the Revenue Department.

Mr. Satheesan said the Kerala State Remote Sensing and Environment Centre (KSREC) would develop a ‘Kerala Geo-Spatial Governance Platform’ (K-GIS) on a par with international standards to support regional spatial governance activities in the State.

A ‘drone lab centre’ will be established for collecting and processing high-resolution data and digital elevation model (DEM) data required for disaster management activities in the State.

Land titles (pattayam) would be provided to all coastal residents who do not possess title deeds. Issues hindering the distribution of land titles in hilly regions would be resolved in a time-bound manner.

Steps would be taken to expedite the disposal of the Cardamom Hill Reserve (Idukki district) case before the Supreme Court, matters relating to the 1964 Rules, and the cases before the High Court concerning land title distribution, in order to protect farmers’ interests and restore distribution of title deeds. o

A Government Order prohibiting construction activities on cardamom patta land will be legally reviewed. Existing constructions on patta land will be regularised unconditionally. An allocation of ₹17.5 crore has been made in the Budget for activities of the Survey Department.

Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan will present the Revised Budget for the 2026-27 fiscal in the Kerala Legislative Assembly at 9 a.m. today (June 19).

The budget will also be the first of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government which came to power in Kerala in May after a landslide victory in the April 9 Assembly polls.

Follow Kerala Revised Budget 2026-27 LIVE updates here

Mr. Satheesan’s presentation will be keenly watched for what it has to say about course corrections in Kerala’s fiscal policy, additional revenue mobilisation, and, among other things, the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) and pay revision.

In presenting the Revised Budget for the current fiscal, Mr. Satheesan, who also handles the Finance portfolio, will be the third Congress Chief Minister in Kerala — after R. Shankar and Oommen Chandy — to present a State Budget.

The previous CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government had presented its 2026-27 State Budget on January 29 this year.

Mr. Satheesan faces the challenge of mobilising additional revenue for development and welfare, especially the UDF’s Indira Guarantees and the ‘Dream Projects,’ while addressing the severe fiscal constraints that — according to Mr. Satheesan — face his government.

The Revised Budget is being presented against the backdrop of a White Paper tabled by the Chief Minister in the Assembly on June 4. The document had painted a bleak picture of the State’s fiscal structure, describing it as being “under serious and growing strain.”

The previous LDF government had presented its 2026-27 State Budget on January 29 this year. The Budget, presented by then Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal, had envisioned ₹1,82,972.10 crore as revenue receipts and ₹2,17,558.76 crore as revenue expenditure.

Mr. Balagopal had recently urged the UDF government not to cut spending for LDF-announced schemes in the upcoming budget.

The general discussion on the Revised Budget will be held in the Assembly from June 22 to June 24. The discussions and voting on the demands for grants will be held on June 29 and June 30. The Appropriation Bill will be taken up on July 1.

The Congress-led UDF government’s Revised Budget for 2026-27, to be presented by Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan on Friday (June 19, 2026) faces the challenge of finding the middle ground between re-aligning Kerala’s fiscal space for tackling the concerns raised in the White Paper on State finances and mobilising additional revenue for development and welfare, notably the Indira Guarantees and the ‘dream projects.’

From the UDF government’s perspective, State finances present a key challenge. Its White Paper described the fiscal structure as being “under serious and growing strain.” The former Union Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar-led panel which drafted the document had noted that the Budget Estimates for 2026-27 (presented by the previous LDF government) had anticipated ₹20,500 crore more than what the 16th Finance Commission eventually assigned to Kerala. Bridging this shortfall may require “aggressive mobilisation of own revenue and prioritisation of expenditure” it said.

Commenting on his upcoming Budget presentation at a post-Cabinet briefing on Wednesday, Mr. Satheesan – who handles the Finance portfolio – said his government was operating “within limitations” due to the anticipated ₹20,500-crore shortfall. “Finding ₹20,500 crore is the challenge,” he said, adding that his government entertained different approaches to policy and the development paradigm.

Among the Indira Guarantees, the free bus travel for women announced in the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation’s ‘Ordinary’ buses alone is expected to drive up the additional expenses by another ₹750 crore-₹800 crore, according to the government. Other ‘guarantees’ include monthly ₹1,000 assistance to college-going female students, hiking welfare pensions to a monthly ₹3,000 and health insurance coverage up to ₹25 lakh for all families.

The Budget is also expected to earmark money for the ‘dream projects’ – ‘Mission Samudra,’ the State’s aviation sector and a tribal university in Wayanad. The development of coastal shipping in Phase 1 of Mission Samudra and Kerala as an aviation hub rank among the priorities of the UDF government.

On the policy front, of keen interest will be the Revised Budget’s approaches to the White Paper recommendations regarding privatisation and the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), the entity used by the LDF for funding infrastructure projects. The White Paper wanted non-viable ‘non-strategic’ public sector enterprises to be considered for “disinvestment, privatisation or closure.” It also recommended a revamp of KIIFB and the KIIFB Act, 2016, and a forensic audit of its accounts. At the same time, it also argued that it would be “wasteful” to dismantle the entity’s framework.

Whether the Budget would present an alternative to the LDF’s SilverLine high-speed rail project remains another point of interest. After scrapping SilverLine, Mr. Satheesan had stated that the UDF was not averse to high-speed rail projects if they were viable environmentally and financially.

Presenting the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government’s 2026-27 pre-poll Budget in January, then Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal had made a clutch of big-ticket announcements, including free undergraduate education in arts and science colleges and the 12th Pay Revision Commission. Sweeping aside the findings of the UDF White Paper, the LDF, now in Opposition, has opposed cuts in spending and schemes in the upcoming Budget, asserting that it had left State finances in a comfortable position for the UDF to build on.

While the Pay Commission is yet to file its recommendations, the previous pay revision, in 2021, had entailed an additional annual expenditure of ₹25,000 crore on the State government. According to the White Paper, committed expenditure on salaries and wages, pensions and interest payments consumed 77.6% of the revenue receipts in 2025-26.

With the government creating a separate department for the welfare of the elderly, the Revised Budget is expected to earmark ample space for senior citizens.

The 7th State Finance Commission (SFC) had pointed to an urban-rural mismatch in the 16th Union Finance Commission (UFC) allocations for local bodies which could require Kerala to restructure its local body Plans. The UFC allocations to municipalities and Corporations are disproportionately high, leaving rural local governments with lesser funds. The scenario presents a rapidly urbanising Kerala with unique challenges, but the UDF government is yet to comment on this matter.

While the UDF’s White Paper had painted a grim picture of Kerala’s finances, the Kerala Development Report 2026 (KDR), published by the State Planning Board earlier this year, had observed that fiscal stress was not a consequence of fiscal indiscipline, rather, it rose from “the structural constraints of federal fiscal architecture.” KDR 2026 had also noted an increase in the State’s own tax revenue and revenue self-sufficiency, attributing it to “improvements in tax administration, reforms under the GST framework and compliance efficiency.”

The Congress-led UDF government’s Revised Budget for 2026-27, to be presented by Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan on Friday (June 19, 2026) faces the challenge of finding the middle ground between re-aligning Kerala’s fiscal space for tackling the concerns raised in the White Paper on State finances and mobilising additional revenue for development and welfare, notably the Indira Guarantees and the ‘dream projects.’

From the UDF government’s perspective, State finances present a key challenge. Its White Paper described the fiscal structure as being “under serious and growing strain.” The former Union Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar-led panel which drafted the document had noted that the Budget Estimates for 2026-27 (presented by the previous LDF government) had anticipated ₹20,500 crore more than what the 16th Finance Commission eventually assigned to Kerala. Bridging this shortfall may require “aggressive mobilisation of own revenue and prioritisation of expenditure” it said.

Commenting on his upcoming Budget presentation at a post-Cabinet briefing on Wednesday, Mr. Satheesan – who handles the Finance portfolio – said his government was operating “within limitations” due to the anticipated ₹20,500-crore shortfall. “Finding ₹20,500 crore is the challenge,” he said, adding that his government entertained different approaches to policy and the development paradigm.

Among the Indira Guarantees, the free bus travel for women announced in the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation’s ‘Ordinary’ buses alone is expected to drive up the additional expenses by another ₹750 crore-₹800 crore, according to the government. Other ‘guarantees’ include monthly ₹1,000 assistance to college-going female students, hiking welfare pensions to a monthly ₹3,000 and health insurance coverage up to ₹25 lakh for all families.

The Budget is also expected to earmark money for the ‘dream projects’ – ‘Mission Samudra,’ the State’s aviation sector and a tribal university in Wayanad. The development of coastal shipping in Phase 1 of Mission Samudra and Kerala as an aviation hub rank among the priorities of the UDF government.

On the policy front, of keen interest will be the Revised Budget’s approaches to the White Paper recommendations regarding privatisation and the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), the entity used by the LDF for funding infrastructure projects. The White Paper wanted non-viable ‘non-strategic’ public sector enterprises to be considered for “disinvestment, privatisation or closure.” It also recommended a revamp of KIIFB and the KIIFB Act, 2016, and a forensic audit of its accounts. At the same time, it also argued that it would be “wasteful” to dismantle the entity’s framework.

Whether the Budget would present an alternative to the LDF’s SilverLine high-speed rail project remains another point of interest. After scrapping SilverLine, Mr. Satheesan had stated that the UDF was not averse to high-speed rail projects if they were viable environmentally and financially.

Presenting the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government’s 2026-27 pre-poll Budget in January, then Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal had made a clutch of big-ticket announcements, including free undergraduate education in arts and science colleges and the 12th Pay Revision Commission. Sweeping aside the findings of the UDF White Paper, the LDF, now in Opposition, has opposed cuts in spending and schemes in the upcoming Budget, asserting that it had left State finances in a comfortable position for the UDF to build on.

While the Pay Commission is yet to file its recommendations, the previous pay revision, in 2021, had entailed an additional annual expenditure of ₹25,000 crore on the State government. According to the White Paper, committed expenditure on salaries and wages, pensions and interest payments consumed 77.6% of the revenue receipts in 2025-26.

With the government creating a separate department for the welfare of the elderly, the Revised Budget is expected to earmark ample space for senior citizens.

The 7th State Finance Commission (SFC) had pointed to an urban-rural mismatch in the 16th Union Finance Commission (UFC) allocations for local bodies which could require Kerala to restructure its local body Plans. The UFC allocations to municipalities and Corporations are disproportionately high, leaving rural local governments with lesser funds. The scenario presents a rapidly urbanising Kerala with unique challenges, but the UDF government is yet to comment on this matter.

While the UDF’s White Paper had painted a grim picture of Kerala’s finances, the Kerala Development Report 2026 (KDR), published by the State Planning Board earlier this year, had observed that fiscal stress was not a consequence of fiscal indiscipline, rather, it rose from “the structural constraints of federal fiscal architecture.” KDR 2026 had also noted an increase in the State’s own tax revenue and revenue self-sufficiency, attributing it to “improvements in tax administration, reforms under the GST framework and compliance efficiency.”