Budget 2024: Bonanza For Bihar After Special Category Status Is Denied

Bihar, led by National Democratic Alliance ally Nitish Kumar, has received special attention under the central government’s ‘Purvodaya’ scheme for the development of eastern states of India, a day after it was denied “special status”.

“The eastern states are rich in endowments and have strong cultural traditions. We will formulate a plan, ‘Purvodaya’, for all-round development of BIhar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh,” Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her budget speech in the parliament on Tuesday.

“The ‘Purvodaya’ scheme will cover HR development, infrastructure, and the generation of economic opportunities to make the region an engine to attain 'Viksit Bharat' (developed India).”

With a total outlay of Rs 26,000 crore, Sitharaman announced four road projects for Bihar. These include the Patna-Purnia and Buxar-Bhagalpur Expressways, a Buddhist corridor connecting Bodh Gaya, Rajgir, Vaishali, and Darbhanga, and a two-lane bridge over the Ganga river at Buxar. 

Power projects, including a new 2,400-MW power plant at Pirpainti, will be set up at a cost of Rs 21,400 crore. New airports, medical colleges, and sports infrastructure will also come up in Bihar.

Additionally, Gaya—a town 100 km from the state capital Patna—will become an industrial node on the Amritsar-Kolkata industrial corridor.

“This corridor will catalyse industrial development in the eastern region,” Sitharaman said. “The industrial node at Gaya will also be a good model for developing our ancient centres of cultural importance into future centres of the modern economy. This model shall showcase ‘Vikas bhi, Virasat bhi’ in our growth trajectory.”

“An additional allocation to support capital investments will be provided,” she said. “The requests of the Bihar government for external assistance from multilateral development banks will be expedited."

Bihar was denied “special status” as a backward state.

“The request of Bihar for Special Category Status was considered by an inter-ministerial group, which submitted its report on March 30, 2012," Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Choudhary said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha on Monday. "The IMG came to the finding that based on the National Development Council’s existing criteria, the case for Special Category Status for Bihar is not made out.”

The Union Budget 2024 has also proposed developing the Vishnupad Temple Corridor and Mahabodhi Temple Corridor in Bihar on the lines of the Kashi Vishwanath Temple Corridor in Varanasi to transform them into world-class pilgrim and tourist destinations.

The government will undertake comprehensive development of Rajgir—the birth site of the 20th Jain Tirthankara Munisuvrata and the seat of the Brahmakund—to promote tourism in the sacred town. In Nalanda, the government will revive the ancient university and develop the town as a tourist destination.

Bihar frequently suffers from floods, many of them originating outside the country. Plans to build flood control structures in Nepal are still a work in progress.

The government, through its Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme, has allocated Rs 11,500 crore for projects such as the Kosi-Mechi intrastate link and 20 other ongoing and new schemes including barrages, river pollution and irrigation projects. Additionally, a survey of the Kosi floodplains will be undertaken.

The budget initiatives are a big step towards making Bihar ‘atmanirbhar’, or self-reliant, the incumbent Janata Dal (United) said. 

Party spokesperson KC Tyagi lauded what he said was “special financial assistance” for Bihar by way of budgetary allocations of over Rs 26,000 crore for roadways and Rs 11,500 crore for waterways.

Janata Dal (United), led by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, is a key ally of the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government. The support of its 12 Lok Sabha MPs helped the NDA claim a majority in the lower house of the parliament and form the government after the recently concluded general elections.