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Informist, Tuesday, Mar. 4, 2025

 

By Krity Ambey

 

NEW DELHI – With the mention of 'mahila' or woman forty-seven times in Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary's Budget speech for 2025-26 (Apr-Mar), the state government has set its focus on female voters and their families with multiple women-centric schemes ahead of the Legislative Assembly election. Bihar is likely to hold polls in October-November. In the assembly election in 2020, 59.7% of the total female voters had casted their votes against a participation of 54.5% of the male voters. 

 

The state government proposes to establish 'mahila haat' in Patna. The government will earmark vending zones exclusively for women in all major cities, Choudhary, who holds the finance portfolio, said in his Budget speech on Monday. Choudhary also announced operation of pink buses with female drivers and conductors in all major cities of Bihar.

 

The state government has also decided to run 'gym on wheels' for women in Patna, which would have female trainers. The government has committed to ensure setting up pink toilets in all districts, with construction of 20 toilets within the next one month.

 

Bihar's National Democratic Alliance government, comprising Rashtriya Janata Dal (United) and Bharatiya Janata Party, has also promised to facilitate weddings of women from poor rural households by establishing 'kanya vivah mandap' in all panchayats. The NDA government at the Centre has also bestowed special focus on poll-bound Bihar in the Union Budget for FY26, with announcements like setting up a makhana board, greenfield airports, and the National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship, and Management.

 

The state's scheme expenditure is projected to jump 17% to INR 1.17 trillion in FY26 from the budget estimate for scheme expenditure in FY25, according to the FY26 Budget document that was updated late Monday. The state has not given revised estimates for FY25 in its budget document.

 

Bihar's spending on scheme is set to be 37% of the total expenditure of INR 3.17 trillion estimated for FY26. The state's capital outlay for FY26 is likely to rise 38% to INR 405.32 billion in the next fiscal year.

 

The eastern state's revenue receipts are pegged at INR 2.61 trillion for FY26, which includes INR 1.93 trillion from the Union government as state's share in central taxes and grants-in-aid, INR 595.20 billion from own tax revenue, and another INR 82.21 billion from non-tax revenue.

 

Choudhary has projected a revenue surplus of INR 88.31 billion for FY26. The state's fiscal deficit is likely to be INR 327.18 billion next year, translating to 2.98% of Gross State Domestic Product. The state had estimated a fiscal deficit of 2.98% of GSDP in the budget estimate for FY25 as well.

 

There is lack of clarity on the fiscal position of Bihar given that the Budget documents don't entail revised estimates for FY25. The state has a history of projecting an ambitious fiscal consolidation plan and then faltering on it. The government had projected a fiscal deficit of 3% of GSDP for FY24 but ended the year with a deficit of 4.17% of GSDP, above the fiscal deficit limit indicated by the Centre for states. The Union government, in FY24, had set the limit for the fiscal deficit of states at 3.5% of GSDP.   End

 

Edited by Ashish Shirke

 

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