Bihar govt presents Rs 2.61 lakh crore budget

Patna: The Nitish Kumar government in Bihar on Tuesday presented a Rs 2.61 lakh crore budget, asserting that the state’s finances were “in a good shape” as evident from markers like the fiscal deficit being under the prescribed conditional limit.

Tabling the budget before the state assembly, Finance Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary also flagged concerns like a drop in grants in aid received from the Centre, compared to the previous year, though Bihar’s share in central taxes saw a rise.

The total proposed budget expenditure of Rs 2,61,885.40 crore, for the year 2023-24, was “Rs 24,194.21 crore more” than the previous financial year.

The state government also cited “fiscal achievements” like the fiscal deficit remaining at 3.78 per cent of the SGDP, which is under the prescribed conditional limit of 4.5 per cent.

The budget pointed out that the grants in aid expected from the Centre for the current fiscal was estimated at Rs 53,377.92 crore, which was “Rs 4,623.37 crore less" than what was received in the previous fiscal.

However, the budget also noted a slight increase in the state’s share in central taxes, which, at Rs 1,02,737.26 crore for 2023-24, was Rs 376.12 crore more than the previous year.