Special care has been taken of Andhra Pradesh and Bihar in the first budget of the third term of the Modi government. Andhra Pradesh has received a gift of Rs 15 thousand crores and Bihar has received a gift of Rs 60 thousand crores.
The opposition is opposing the special attention given to Andhra and Bihar in the budget. The opposition has accused the central government of discriminating against other states. India Bloc leaders also protested in the Parliament complex regarding this. India Block claims that the states where there are opposition governments were ignored in the budget.
Congress President and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said in Parliament that except two states, no one got anything in the budget presented yesterday.
The opposition has also boycotted the NITI Aayog meeting to be held under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 27 in protest against the budget. The Chief Ministers of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Jharkhand have accused the state of ignoring them.
Such allegations are being made because Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP and Nitish Kumar’s JDU are important allies in the NDA government at the Centre. TDP has 16 MPs and JDU has 12 MPs in the Lok Sabha.
On the other hand, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says that no discrimination has been done to anyone in the budget. On the allegations of not mentioning the states in the budget speech, Nirmala Sitharaman said that if the name of a state has not been taken in the budget speech, it does not mean that it was not covered.
In such a situation, let us know what Bihar and Andhra Pradesh have got in this budget? And what provision has been made in the budget for the remaining states?
What did Bihar get?
About Rs 59 thousand crore has been announced for Bihar in the budget of 2024-25. Patna-Purnia Expressway and Buxar-Bhagalpur Expressway will be built at a cost of Rs 26 thousand crore. Out of this, road projects of Bodhgaya, Rajgir, Vaishali and Darbhanga will also be completed. Apart from these, a two-lane bridge will also be built on the Ganga river in Buxar, in which the central government will help.
Along with this, power projects will also be started at a cost of Rs 21,400 crore, which also includes building a new 2,400 MW power plant in Pirpainti. Apart from this, Rs 11 thousand 500 crore will be given to deal with floods.
Apart from all this, the center will also help in developing the industrial center in Gaya in the middle of the industrial corridor being built between Amritsar and Kolkata.
Not only this, new airports, medical colleges and sports infrastructure will be increased in Bihar. Vishnupad temple of Gaya and Mahabodhi temple of Bodhgaya will be developed. Vishnupad Temple Corridor and Mahabodhi Temple Corridor will be built on the lines of Kashi Vishwanath Temple Corridor. Nalanda University will also be developed as a tourist spot.
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What did Andhra Pradesh get?
The Central Government has made a provision of Rs 15 thousand crore for Andhra Pradesh in the budget. This amount will be given to Andhra to prepare the new capital. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is making Amaravati the new capital.
While presenting the budget, Nirmala Sitharaman had said that Andhra’s Polavaran Irrigation Project will also be completed soon.
Funds will be provided for water, power, railways and roads in Koppathi area in Visakhapatnam-Chennai Economic Corridor and Orvakal area in Hyderabad-Bengaluru Economic Corridor. Grants will also be given for backward areas of Rayalaseema, Prakasam and North Coastal Andhra.
So what did the other states get?
No specific announcement has been made for the remaining states. The Finance Minister said that a new scheme named ‘Purvodaya’ will be started. In this scheme, the eastern region of the country will be developed including Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
Apart from these, flood affected states are also mentioned. Nirmala Sitharaman said that the Center will help in compensating the losses caused by floods in Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Sikkim. The Center will also help in the ongoing projects to deal with floods in Assam.
The Central Government has given a budget of Rs 42,277.77 crore to Jammu and Kashmir. This is 1.2% more than the previous budget. Apart from Rs 42,277 crore, the Central Government has also kept Rs 9,789.42 crore for Jammu and Kashmir Police.
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And what have the other states got?
According to the budget document, a total of Rs 23,48,980 crore will be transferred to state governments and union territories. This amount is about 12 percent more than that of 2023-24.
Out of this Rs 23.38 lakh crore, Rs 12.47 lakh crore will be received as the states’ share in central taxes and duties. Whereas, the remaining Rs 11.01 lakh crore will be given as grant.
According to the recommendations of the Finance Commission, states and union territories should have 41% share in the Centre’s earnings from taxes and duties. That is, if the Central Government has earned Rs 100 from taxes and duties, then all the states and union territories will get Rs 41 out of it.
According to the budget document, the central government has earned more than Rs 38.40 lakh crore from taxes and duties in 2024-25. Out of this, the Center will transfer Rs 12.47 lakh crore i.e. 32% to the state governments and union territories. That means, less than what is fixed.
This time Uttar Pradesh will get the highest tax. The central government will give a share of more than Rs 2.23 lakh crore to UP. At the same time, Bihar will get Rs 1.25 lakh crore and Andhra Pradesh will get Rs 50 thousand crore.
Apart from all this, the central government will also give Rs 1.50 lakh crore to the state governments for spending on infrastructure.