Bihar Budget 2024: Patna-Purnea Expressway To 2400 MW Power Plant In Pirpainti; All You Need To Know

Eastern states of India emerged in the limelight during the Union Budget announcement by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. On July 23, she said, the states in the Eastern part of the country are rich in endowments and have strong cultural traditions."

She further added, "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."

According to the FM, this will cover human resource development, infrastructure, and the generation of economic opportunities to make the region an engine to attain Viksit Bharat.

Big Bonanza To Bihar:

FM announced that the government will support the development of road connectivity projects, namely (1) Patna-Purnea Expressway, (2) Buxar-Bhagalpur Expressway, (3) Bodhgaya, Rajgir, Vaishali and Darbhanga Spurs, and (4) additional 2-lane bridge over river Ganga at Buxar at a total cost of Rs 26,000 crore.

Also, power projects including the setting up of a new 2400 MW power plant at Pirpainti, will be taken up for Rs 21,400 crore. She added, "New airports, medical colleges and sports infrastructure in Bihar will be constructed."

An additional allocation to support capital investments will be provided. The requests of the Bihar Government for external assistance from multilateral development banks will be expedited, Sitharaman said.

On the Amritsar Kolkata Industrial Corridor, Sitharaman said, "We will support the development of an industrial node at Gaya. This corridor will catalyze industrial development of the eastern region."

Furthermore, FM highlighted that 83. Bihar has frequently suffered from floods, many of them originating outside the country. She even revealed that plans to build flood control structures in Nepal are yet to progress.

Hence, she said, "Our government, through the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme and other sources, will provide financial support for projects with estimated cost of Rs 11,500 crore such as the Kosi-Mechi intra-state link and 20 other ongoing and new schemes including barrages, river pollution abatement and irrigation projects. In addition, survey and investigation of Kosi related flood mitigation and irrigation projects will be undertaken."

Not just that FM also announced key measures for spiritual places in Bihar. She said, " Vishnupad Temple at Gaya and Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya in Bihar are of immense spiritual significance. Comprehensive development of Vishnupad Temple Corridor and Mahabodhi Temple Corridor will be Comprehensive development of Vishnupad Temple Corridor and Mahabodhi Temple Corridor will be supported, modelled on the successful Kashi Vishwanath Temple Corridor, to transform them into world class pilgrim and tourist destinations."

Shishir Baijal, Chairman and Managing Director, of Knight Frank India, said, "The specific measures to introduce technological reforms within the regulatory framework for land, such as the digitization of land records and cadastral maps via GIS mapping, will vastly improve transparency in the sector. We also welcome the initiatives taken to boost tourism corridors in states like Bihar and Odisha, in addition to the 15,000 crore allocation toward the development of the capital of Andhra Pradesh, which will boost corollary real estate development."