NEW DELHI — The Planning Commission has approved Bihar’s plan size of Rs 20,000 crore for 2010-11 fiscal which is 39 per cent more than the annual plan outlay of Rs 14,404.65 crore for 2009-10. It was finalized on Monday after chief minister Nitish Kumar met plan panel deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
Out of Rs 20,000 crore, the state government’s own fund is Rs 8,619.02 crore and its borrowing is Rs 5,510.00 crore, which comes to 71 per cent, while the Central assistance is Rs 5,870.98 crore or 29 per cent of the plan size.
Bihar’s economy has grown at a rapid pace in recent years. The rate of growth of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) at constant prices has been 12.8 per cent between 2004-09 as per latest CSO figures. The per capita income of the state in 2005-06 was Rs 8,804, which almost doubled to Rs 16,177 in 2009-10.
On fiscal management the CM said budgetary reforms with tax rationalisation has helped in bringing the fiscal deficit down to 3.5 per cent and tax revenue up from Rs 3561 crore in 2005-06 to Rs 8274 crores in 2009-10. Debt to GSDP percentage has come down from 43.39 per cent to 29.79 per cent.
Attention of the panel was drawn towards the meagre amount released under PMGSY which is not commensurate with the actual requirement. Out of Rs 6,900 crore required in 2009-10, the amount released was only Rs 772.93 crore. It severely affected work under the scheme and progress has come to a standstill.
The panel was told about the campaign to make 40 lakh illiterate women literate under Mukhya Mantri Akshar Anchal Yojna and also about cash grant for uniform and bicycles to girl students to promote education of females.
Nitish said that during current financial year social sector will get priority in plan allocation with over 36 per cent fund allocation. Transport sector with 23.45 per cent allocation will be next in the priority.