On July 23, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced several schemes for Bihar in her Budget 2024 speech. The schemes are a part of larger plan titled “Purvodaya” that covers the all-round development of eastern States including Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
Ms. Sitharaman said that the government will support developmental activities related to an industrial node in Gaya, Bihar which is on Amritsar-Kolkata industrial corridor.“The industrial node at Gaya will also be a good model for developing our ancient centres of cultural importance into future centres of modern economy…this model will showcase ‘vikas bhi, virasat bhi’ [development as well as culture],” she added.
In Bihar alone, road connectivity projects worth ₹26,000 crore have been announced by the Finance Minister including Patna-Purnia Expressway; Buxar-Bhagalpur Expressway; Bodh Gaya, Rajgir, Vaishali and Darbhanga spurs; and a two-lane bridge over River Ganga at Buxar.
“The Pirpainti area of Bhagalpur district of Bihar will get one more 2400 MW power plant at an estimate of Rs. 21,400 crores,” said Ms. Sitharaman.
New airports and medical colleges would also be built by the government along with sports infrastructure in Bihar while it supports State through additional allocation for capital investments.
Ahead of Budget session Janata Dal (United) party had demanded special financial package for the state to be announced. It may be recalled that government has already ruled out grant of special category status to Bihar.
The third term Modi government’s Finance Minister was doing her seventh straight Budget presentation.
