New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced special financial support for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, the states ruled by Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) key allies Chandrababu Naidu and Nitish Kumar, on Tuesday.
“We will formulate a plan, Purvodaya for the all-round development of the eastern region of the country, covering Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh. This will cover human resource development, infrastructure, and the generation of economic opportunities to make the region an engine to attain Vikshit Bharat,” she said while presenting Budget for the fiscal year 2024-25.
BIHAR
Sitharaman said that the government will support the development of an industrial node at Gaya (Bihar) on the Amritsar-Kolkata industrial corridor. “This corridor will catalyse industrial development in the eastern region,” she said.
She said Rs 26,000 crore will be allocated for highways in Bihar. “We will also support the development of road connectivity projects- Patna -Purnea expressway, Buxar- Bhagalpur highway, Bodhgaya- Rajgir-Vaishali- Darbhanga and an additional two-lane bridge over river Ganga in Buxar for Rs 26,000 crores.”
The FM further stated that power projects, including setting up of a new 2400 megawatt power plant at Pirpainti, will be taken up at a cost of Rs 21400 crore. “New airports, medical colleges and sports infrastructure will be set up in Bihar. An additional allocation to support capital investments will be provided,” she said.
The Union government will arrange financial assistance to Bihar through aid from multilateral development agencies, she added.
She also announced an allocation of Rs 11500 crore or flood control measures in Bihar. “Funds have also been provided for developing the temple corridors in Nihar. The Kashi Model will be implemented in Bodh Gaya. Special funds have also been provided for Rajgir which holds religious significance for Hindus, Buddhists and Jains,” she added.
ANDHRA
Andhra Pradesh will get special financial support of Rs 15,000 crore for development of Capital Amravati. “Our government has made efforts to fulfil the commitments in Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. Recognising the state’s need for capital, we will facilitate special financial support through multilateral agencies. In the current FY, Rs 15,000 crore will be arranged with additional amounts in future years,” the FM said.
Besides announcing over Rs 3 lakh crore for schemes benefiting women and girls, Sitharaman said that the government is fully committed for completion and financing of Polavaram irrigation project, ensuring food security of the nation. Backward region grant will be provided to 3 districts of Andhra Pradesh.
The government will also support essential infrastructure such as water, power, railways and roads in Kopparthy node on the Vishakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor and Orvakal node on Hyderabad-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor.
The Minister also announced backward region grant for three districts of the state. Grants will be provided for underdeveloped areas in Rayalaseema, Prakasam, and North coastal Andhra Pradesh, as mandated by the Act.
This came a day after, the Centre denied granting ‘special category’ status to Bihar, as was demanded by Janata Dal (United) in the all-party meeting.
The special development packages to Bihar and Andhra Pradesh is significant as Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and JD (U) had emerged as kingmaker allies in the NDA coalition post the Lok Sabha elections as the BJP fell short of a majority on its own, winning 240 seats. The JD(U) has 12 Lok Sabha seats and the TDP 16 seats.
Bloomberg had reported that Naidu may have asked for more than Rs 1 lakh crore allocation for Andhra Pradesh, while Nitish Kumar was said to be demanding Rs 30,000 crore in Budget 2024.
The BJP will also hope that the announcements for Bihar will give much-needed push to the BJP-JDU combine in the state elections next year.
BJD, though not an ally but can play a crucial role in Rajya Sabha with its 9 MPs as NDA lack majority in the Upper House, had also made the demand for a special category status for Odisha, at the all-party meeting held on Sunday (July 21).
