Bihar Finance Minister Tables Rs 2.61 Lakh Crore ‘Revenue Surplus Budget’

The Nitish Kumar government in Bihar on Tuesday presented a Rs 2.61 lakh crore budget in the state assembly. Tabling the budget before the state assembly, Finance Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary also shared concerns like a drop in grants in aid received from the Centre  compared to the previous year, though Bihar's share in central taxes saw a rise.

The total proposed budget expenditure for the year 2023-24 is Rs 2,61,885.40 crore, which is Rs 24,194.21 crore more than the previous financial year.

The state government also cited 'fiscal achievements' like the fiscal deficit remaining at 3.78 per cent of the SGDP, which is under the prescribed conditional limit of 4.5 per cent.

The budget pointed out that the grants in aid expected from the Centre for the current fiscal was estimated at Rs 53,377.92 crore, which was 'Rs 4,623.37 crore less" than what was received in the previous financial year.

The budget also noted a slight increase in the state's share in central taxes, which, at Rs 1,02,737.26 crore for 2023-24, was Rs 376.12 crore more than the previous year.

As per expectations, the budget focus on employment generation and education, targeting the youth. While no new taxes have been levied, an allocation of Rs 50 crore has been proposed for the Nari Shakti scheme. Rs 94 crore has been proposed for scholarship for High school pass girl students, and the Balika poshak yojna for school uniform saw an allocation of Rs 100 crore. 

The budget also allocated Rs 400 crore for the upliftment of the girl child. 

Rs 5,540 crore proposed for redevelopment of PMCH and Rs 40 crore has been allocated for the reconstruction of the madarsas. The finance minister also announced that 522 teachers to be hired across engineering colleges in the state.