With the Assembly election drawing closer, the State Budget has delivered a series of significant allocations for Kottayam district, with several projects backed by the Kerala Congress (M) and Devaswom Minister V. N. Vasavan receiving priority. Science City, Kottayam, will receive nearly a quarter of the ₹30.70 crore earmarked for science and technology centres across the district. The Budget allocation for the Meenachil Valley irrigation project, meanwhile, has been enhanced to ₹5.5 crore, with an additional ₹2.5 crore provided this year. The 447-year old Kottayam Cheriya Palli (St. Mary’s Orthodox Syrian Church, Kottayam), a Marian pilgrimage centre, has been allotted ₹2 crore for facility upgrades under a pilgrimage tourism project. Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, will also benefit from the ₹259.09 crore allocated to strengthen universities under the Higher Education Department.