On February 28, 2023, Finance Minister of Bihar Vijay Kumar Choudhary presented the state budget for financial year 2023-24 (FY24) with an outlay of Rs 2,61,885.40 crore, (Rs 24,194.21 crore more than FY23 Budget) with focus on creating jobs, health and education.
Highlights of Bihar Budget FY24:
i.Fiscal Deficit: The Fiscal Deficit for FY24 has been projected at Rs 25,567.84 crore which is 2.98% of the GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product) estimate.
- Fiscal deficit of FY23 was remaining at 3.78% of the SGDP (State Gross Domestic Product), which is under the prescribed conditional limit of 4.5%.
ii.The grants in aid expected from the Centre for FY24 was estimated at Rs 53,377.92 crore, it was Rs 4,623.37 crore less than the aid received in FY23.
iii.The state’s share in central taxes for FY24 was proposed at Rs 1,02,737.26 crore, it was about Rs 376.12 crore more than FY23.
iv.With the growth rate projection of 10.98% in FY 2021-22, Bihar is third among the top five fastest-growing States in India.
v.Livestock and fishing, aquaculture, contributed to the growth of GSDP, registering growth rates of 9.5% and 6.7%, respectively.
vi.Allocation under the budget FY24:
- The education department has got the highest allocation of Rs 22,200 crore.
- Rural Development Department – Rs 15,193 crore
- Social Welfare – Rs 8191 crore
- Rural Works Department – Rs 7950 crore
- The Health Department – Rs 7117 crore
- Scheduled Castes Special Component Plan – Rs 16,939.53 crore
- Tribal Sub Plan – Rs 1,574.49 crore
Note – In FY24, the state has made a separate fund allocation for the benefit of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes communities.
vii.Job creation in FY24:
- The state government has committed to provide 10 lakh jobs in FY24 in the government sector.
- The Bihar Police was directed to create 75,543 additional posts in FY24.
- The education department would appoint 1 lakh teachers and the state-run Nursing Training institutes will recruit over 10,000 tutors.
Recent Related News:
On 24th February 2023, the Cabinet of Bihar chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, approved USD 50,000(around Rs 41.41 lakh) to develop an early warning system for dense fog and cold wave conditions in collaboration with the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), a Federally Funded Research and Development Center of the National Science Foundation, United States of America.
About Bihar:
Chief Minister – Nitish Kumar
Wildlife Sanctuary – Kaimur Wildlife Sanctuary, Rajgir Wildlife Sanctuary
Tiger Reserve – Valmiki Tiger Reserve
