Bihar gets 16,000 cr from center for development

The Planning Commission has approved Rs 16,000 crore as plan grant for Bihar, which includes central assistance to the tune of Rs 110 crore for projects of special importance to the state, for 2009-10. The grant was approved at a meeting between Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at New Delhi on Monday.

The amount sanctioned for the state is about 18 percent more as compared to 2008-09, when it was Rs 13,500 crore. Besides, market borrowings for the state comprise 22.8 percent of the grant at Rs 3,650 crore with the Panel assuring to aid in raising additional borrowing during the year, if needed.

However, the State Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said that the state needed more grants to overcome developmental bottleneck. "We need more. We are a development deficit state. We need higher plan size but we could get Rs 16,000 crore", Kumar said on the occasion. He said the state has plans for private investment at different stages - sugar cane mills and thermal power.

Bihar expects to spend 24 percent of the allocated amount on basic infrastructure including roads and bridges, he said adding that the development taking place in the state is visible to the people.