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Informist, Tuesday, Jul 23, 2024

--To formulate Purvodaya plan for eastern states

--Purvodaya plan to focus on all-round development 

--Purvodaya to cover resource development, econ opportunities 

--Gaya to be industrial node on Amritsar-Kolkata corridor

--Gaya industrial node will be model for modern development

--Gaya industrial node will catalyse east region's industry

--Bodh Gaya, Rajgir, Vaishali, Darbhanga road connectivity project

--Power projects with 214 bln rupees to be set up

--2,400 MW power plant to be set up at Peer Painthi

--To set up new airports, medical colleges, sports infra in Bihar

--To expedite Bihar request for multilateral bk assistance

KOLKATA – Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Centre is rolling out a plan named "Purvodaya", aimed at the all-round development of the eastern part of the country. The plan covers Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh and includes human resource development, infrastructure, and generation of economic opportunities.

While presenting the Budget for 2024-25 (Apr-Mar) in Parliament today, Sitharaman said, "On the Amritsar Kolkata Industrial Corridor, we will support development of an industrial node at Gaya." "This corridor will catalyse industrial development of the eastern region. The industrial node at Gaya will also be a good model for developing our ancient centres of cultural importance into future centres of modern economy."

Sitharaman said the Centre will allot 260 bln rupees to support the development of road connectivity projects, namely, the Patna-Purnea Expressway, the Buxar-Bhagalpur Expressway, the Bodhgaya, Rajgir, Vaishali, and Darbhanga spurs, and an additional 2-lane bridge over river Ganga at Buxar. 

Power projects worth 214 bln rupees will be taken up under this initiative. This includes a 2,400-MW power plant at Pirpainti in Bhagalpur district of Bihar, the finance minister said. The power plant was originally planned as a 1,200-MW plant decades ago and an agreement between NHPC Ltd, Bihar State Power Generation Co Ltd, and Pirpainti Bijlee Co Pvt Ltd was concluded in 2014. A power purchase agreement between Pirpainti Bijlee Co, which will operate the project, and Bihar State Power Generation Co, the buyer, has also been concluded over a decade ago. Of the total requisite land of 1,179 acres, 1,001 acres have already been acquired. Around 85% of the power generated from this project is expected to be allotted to Bihar. However, the project has not been completed.

Sitharaman said new airports, medical colleges, and sports infrastructure will be constructed in Bihar and an additional allocation to support capital investments will be provided. The government will also expedite Bihar's government's requests for multilateral development banks, she said. 

Over 100 branches of India Post Payment Bank will be set up in the north-eastern region of the country to expand banking services. Sitharaman said she has made a provision of 2.66 trln rupees for rural development including rural infrastructure for the current financial year.  End

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT.

Reported by Avishek Rakshit

Edited by Vidhi Verma

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