Budget charms women, farmers, youth

Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, who also holds the finance portfolio, presented the last budget of the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government with a 13.69% increase compared to the previous budget and a slew of initiatives and announcements on expected lines to reap the political benefits in the election year.

- Arun Kumar

PATNA:

Presenting the ₹316,895.02 crore Budget for 2025-26 -- up from ₹278,725.72 crore in 2024-25 by ₹38,169.30 crore -- Choudhary made a string of announcements with focus on women, farmers, youth and migrants in keeping with the priorities of the 7-Resolves programme of Nitish Kumar.

Of this total, scheme expenditure is set at ₹116,759.60 crore, which is 16.7% higher than last year. The establishment and commitment expenditure of the state government is estimated at ₹200,135.42 crore, with a significant portion allocated for salary expenses due to large-scale recruitment, which the government claims would go past the 12-lakh mark.

The budget allocates ₹81,473.45 crore for salaries and ₹33,389.43 crore for pensions. Interest payments on the state's outstanding debt will amount to ₹23,013.94 crore, while ₹22,819.87 crore is earmarked for the repayment of public debt. The budget aims to maintain fiscal discipline by keeping the fiscal deficit at 2.98% of the state's Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), which is below the 3% prescribed limit.

The total outstanding debt of the state government is expected to reach ₹406,476.12 crore, representing 37.04% of the state's projected GSDP of ₹1097,264 crore for 2025-26. The expenditure from the state's revenue account is budgeted at ₹252,000.26 crore, while capital expenditure is set at ₹64,894.76 crore, accounting for 20.48% of the total expenditure.

Additionally, the capital expenditure may receive further support from the central government in the form of a loan, Choudhary said adding that Bihar would get an estimated ₹138,515.85 crore from the Centre against the earlier estimate of ₹113,011.92 crore as the state's share from central taxes, besides an estimated ₹54,575 crore in grants-in-aid -- an increase of ₹2,414 crore from the earlier estimates.