Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh Praises Budget 2024 for Bihar’s Growth

Patna (Bihar), July 24: Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh expressed his happiness with the Union Budget 2024, highlighting the numerous packages allocated for Bihar in various sectors like infrastructure, tourism, and irrigation.

Rajiv Ranjan Singh stated, “We had demanded special status or a special package for Bihar. Today’s Budget has an abundance of packages for Bihar. Whatever sector you look at—be it strengthening infrastructure, developing tourism, or irrigation—there are plenty of schemes in every sector. After implementing these schemes, Bihar’s growth rate will go up.”

He also responded to former Chief Minister Rabri Devi’s remark on the budget, questioning her understanding of budget matters.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar mentioned that the state had been demanding special status or a special package for a long time, and now the process has started. He said, “I have continuously spoken for this (special status). I told them to give us either a special status or a special package. As a follow-up, they have announced aid for many things. We were speaking of special status, and many people said that the provision for special status has been done away with much earlier. So, instead of that, aid should be given to help Bihar. They have now started it.”

He further added that since November 2005, significant work has been done in Bihar, and if the center provides aid, it will boost development activities. “The road infrastructure has improved, many schools have been built, and even in Patna, people now feel safe to go out in the evening. We had been saying from the beginning to help Bihar, especially for this purpose, and in that process, they have announced several steps as aid. We are doing a lot of work in the state, and if we get aid from the center, it will further boost development activities,” he said.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made major announcements for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, including a boost in infrastructure and special financial support. The announcement covers human resource development, infrastructure, and the generation of economic opportunities to make the eastern region of the country, including Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh, an engine to attain Viksit Bharat.

In her Budget speech in Parliament, Nirmala Sitharaman said, “On the Amritsar-Kolkata industrial corridor, we will support the development of an industrial node at Gaya in Bihar. We will also support the construction of road connectivity projects, namely Patna-Purnia Expressway, Buxar-Bagalpur Expressway, Bodhgaya-Rajgir-Vaishali-Darbanga, and an additional two-lane bridge over the river Ganga at Buxar at a total cost of Rs 26,000 crore.”

“Power projects, including setting up a new 2400 megawatt power plant at Pirpainti, will be taken up at a cost of Rs 21,400 crore,” she added.

The Finance Minister also announced the construction of new airports, medical colleges, and sports infrastructure in Bihar. An additional allocation to support capital investments will be provided. She emphasized that the requests of the Bihar government for external assistance from multilateral development banks will be expedited. The FM also announced an allocation of Rs 11,500 crore for flood control measures in Bihar. Funds have also been provided for developing the Temple corridors in the iconic temples in Bihar. The Kashi Model will be implemented in Bodh Gaya, and special funds have been provided for the Rajgir Jain Temple site.