Budget bonanza for BJP allies in Bihar, Andhra aims to secure NDA’s longevity
NEW DELHI: Big-ticket financial assistance announced for Andhra Pradesh and Bihar by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday, while presenting her seventh Budget, has given a boost to the stability and longevity of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre.
Announcing a host of developmental projects, Sitharaman proposed a total outlay of over Rs 60,000 crore for various projects in Bihar, which is due for Assembly polls next year, and Rs 15,000 crore this fiscal for the development of Andhra Pradesh’s capital city, a dream project of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
The BJP relies on the crucial 28 MPs from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the Janata Dal (United), and other smaller regional parties after it fell short of the simple majority mark of 272 MPs in the Lok Sabha during the April-May general elections.
The wishes of both key allies, TDP and JD(U), were accommodated in the proposals of the Union Budget presented in the Lok Sabha. While the BJP’s partner TDP, led by N Chandrababu Naidu, governs Andhra Pradesh, it has JD(U) led by Nitish Kumar as its ally in the Bihar government. Both Andhra Pradesh and Bihar had demanded special category status or special financial packages to meet the infrastructure requirements in their respective states.
In her proposals, Sitharaman announced Rs 15,000 crore for the development of Andhra Pradesh’s capital city this fiscal year. The development of Amaravati as the new capital of the state is a dream project of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu.
Presenting the Budget for 2024-25, Sitharaman outlined a comprehensive plan that addressed key issues faced by Andhra Pradesh post-bifurcation. She promised to facilitate additional funds for the development of Amaravati in the coming years. She also committed to financing and expediting the Polavaram Irrigation Project, allocating funds for infrastructure in industrial corridors, and providing grants for backward regions.
“Our government has made concerted efforts to fulfil the commitments in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act,” Sitharaman said, acknowledging the state’s need for a capital.
“The Rs 15,000 crore will be facilitated through multilateral development agencies this fiscal year, with additional amounts in future years,” she added.
Terming Polavaram project “the lifeline for Andhra Pradesh and its farmers,” Sitharaman linked its completion to national food security. She also announced funds for infrastructure in Kopparthy (Vishakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor) and Orvakal (Hyderabad-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor).
Grants for backward regions of Rayalaseema, Prakasam, and North Coastal Andhra, as mandated by the Reorganisation Act, were also part of the proposed package.
Ahead of the Budget presentation on Tuesday, Chandrababu Naidu visited the national capital where he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, submitting various requests to them.
The substantial aid earmarked for Amaravati is expected to bolster the TDP-led NDA government’s morale in the state, jumpstarting the stalled capital project after a hiatus of five years under the YSR Congress government led by Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, which had pushed a three-capital theory.
“Today the Centre promised Rs 15,000 crore financial support in the Budget. There is hope that happy days are here again. Had Amaravati been completed, the state would have had a Rs 2 to 3 lakh crore asset,” Naidu said in the Assembly during a debate.
He further said the state should thank the Centre for categorically assuring that it would complete the Polavaram Project “as early as possible.”
The Union Budget for 2024-25 also unveiled big-ticket measures for Bihar, proposing a total outlay of over Rs 60,000 crore for various projects, including funding for three expressways, a power plant, heritage corridors, new airports, and sports infrastructure.
Sitharaman announced the Centre’s support for the development of three road connectivity projects—Patna-Purnea Expressway, Buxar-Bhagalpur Expressway, and Bodhgaya, Rajgir, Vaishali, and Darbhanga spurs—and an additional two-lane bridge over the river Ganga at Buxar.
These four projects will have “a total cost of Rs 26,000 crore,” Sitharaman said.
Other benefits for Bihar, currently ruled by the NDA government led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, include the setting up of a 2,400 MW power plant at Pirpainti in Bhagalpur district, which “will be undertaken at a cost of Rs 21,400 crore.”
“New airports, medical colleges, and sports infrastructure in Bihar will be constructed,” said Sitharaman. In addition, the Centre will also help Bihar, which has frequently suffered from floods due to rivers originating from Nepal.“Our government, through the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme and other sources, will provide financial support for projects with an estimated cost of Rs 11,500 crore, such as the Kosi-Mechi intra-state link and 20 other ongoing and new schemes, including barrages, river pollution abatement, and irrigation projects,” she said.
Additionally, survey and investigation of Kosi-related flood mitigation and irrigation projects will be undertaken, Sitharaman added.
The Budget also provided for an additional allocation to support capital investments in Bihar. “The requests of the Bihar government for external assistance from multilateral development banks will be expedited,” the minister said.
The Finance Minister also proposed the development of Vishnupad Temple at Gaya and Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya by creating a corridor modelled on the Varanasi-based Kashi Vishwanath Temple Corridor.
Besides, the Budget also proposed a comprehensive development initiative for Rajgir, which holds religious significance for Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains.
“Under the Poorvodaya scheme, which focuses on the all-round development of eastern region states, including Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh, we will support the development of an industrial node at Gaya on the Amritsar-Kolkata Industrial Corridor,” she said.
