Bihar govt presents Rs 65,325 cr budget

Patna, Feb 25 (PTI) Bihar Finance Minister Sushil KumarModi today presented the Rs 65,325.87 crore annual budget inthe Assembly for 2011-12 having a marginal deficit of Rs 13.03crore.

The state''s total expenditure has been proposed at Rs65,325.87 crore against the proposed total receipts of Rs65,312.84 crore, Modi, who is also Deputy Chief Minister, toldreporters here after an hour-long budget presentation in theAssembly.

In spite of an overall deficit of Rs 13.03 crore in thebudget, the state has a proposed revenue surplus of Rs6,272.30 crore which will be spent on the development andwelfare projects, he said.

The surplus revenue proposed in the budget for 2011-12too has registered a slight decline of Rs 285 crore.

The state''s fiscal deficit too has increased marginallyin percentage terms of the state''s gross domestic product(GDSP) at 2.93 per cent (Rs 6,194 crore) in 2011-12 against2.73 per cent (Rs 45,940 crore) in 2010-11.

Modi, however, expressed confidence that the stategovernment will be successful in sound fiscal management inspite of the large size of its plan, necessary loan paymentand increased revenue expenditure.

The fiscal deficit will remain within stipulated limit ofthree per cent of the SGDP as prescribed by FiscalResponsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) rules prescribedby the Centre, he added.

In an indication that road connectivity, education andagriculture continue to be the priorities in the next fiscaltoo, Road Construction, Human Resources Development andthe Water Resources departments have bagged the lion''s shareof the state plan outlay for 2011-12 at Rs 3,875, Rs 3,014 andRs 2,112 crore respectively, the Deputy Chief Minister said.

Among other significant proposals in the state budget,Modi has allocated Rs 644.58 crore for a new scheme - theChief Minister''s Development project - for development worksin various parts of the state for which the concerned MLAswill be required to make a recommendation for works.

In another significant budgetary proposal, Rs 299.99crore has been provisioned in the budget for purchase offoodgrains for distribution among those BPL families who weredeprived of the benefits under the central scheme, Modi said.

The state government has provisioned funds of Rs 210crore and Rs 250 crore for promotion of food processingindustries and panchayat bhawans respectively, he said.

In addition, the state government has proposed fundsof Rs 126 crore, 175 crore and Rs 153 crore for the ChiefMinister''s scheme for dress to the students, grants forbicycle for boys and grants for bicycle for girlsrespectively.

The Chief Minister''s bridge construction projecthas been allocated an amount of Rs 400 crore, while theThe Chief Minister''s rural approach road project has beengranted Rs 300 crore in the budget.