3 New Corridors, One Power Plant In Pirpainti: What Bihar Got In Sitharaman's Budget

New Delhi:  Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made significant infrastructure announcements for Bihar during her 2024 Union Budget speech on Tuesday. Presenting the first Union Budget after the Modi government's re-election with a fresh mandate, Bihar emerged as a key beneficiary with several infrastructure and industrial support announcements. FM announced four new road projects (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 ` 26,000 crore. The finance minister also announced the setting up of a new 2400 MW power plant at Pirpainti, at an additional cost of ` 21,400 crore. New airports, medical colleges and sports infrastructure in Bihar will be constructed, FM said.  

Budget 2024: What's Bihar Got In Sitharaman's Budget

A power project including setting up a 2400 Megawatt power plant at Pirpainti will be constructed at a cost of Rs 21400 Crore. 

‘On the Amritsar-Kolkata industrial corridor we will support an industrial nod at Gaya in Bihar. It will catalyse the development of the eastern region.’ said Finance Minister Sitharaman while tabling the Union Budget. 

'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,' said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that requests from the Bihar government for external assistance from multilateral development banks will be expedited. She also announced an allocation of ₹11,500 crore for flood control measures in Bihar.

Additionally, funds have been allocated for developing temple corridors in Bihar's iconic temples, on the lines of Kashi model to be implemented in Bodh Gaya. Special funds have also been provided for the Rajgir Jain Temple site.

On announcements for Bihar in Union Budget, Bihar Minister Dilip Jaiswal says, "It's a tight slap on them (opposition) by the Central Govt. I would like to thank the Central govt. The opposition knows that special state status has some technical point, but they won't be able to digest that Bihat has got even more than that."

Key takeaways in infrastructure for Bihar include

• Patna-Purnea Expressway
•  Buxar-Bhagalpur Expressway
• Bodhgaya Expressway
• Sports infrastructure will be constructed in Bihar
• Power Project at PirPainti