What’s Purvodaya plan and how it focuses on development of Bihar, Andhra Pradesh

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday (July 23) said the government will formulate Purvodaya plan for all round development of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh to achieve the goal of ‘Viksit Bharat’.

Presenting the Union Budget, Sitharaman said, “The states in the eastern part of the country are rich in endowments and have strong cultural traditions. We will formulate a plan, Purvodaya, for the all-round development of the eastern region of the country covering Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. This will cover human resource development, infrastructure, and generation of economic opportunities to make the region an engine to attain Viksit Bharat.”

Bihar

While the Centre declined special category status to Bihar, it has given a big infrastructure boost to the state in the budget by proposing Rs 26,000 crore for various road projects in the state.

Emphasising on specific initiatives for Bihar, Sitharaman said the Union government will arrange financial aid to Bihar through assistance from multilateral development agencies. “We will formulate plan Purvodaya for all round development of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh,” the finance minister said.

Apart from proposing Rs 26,000 crore for road projects, the finance minister said the Centre will set up airports, medical colleges and sports infrastructure in Bihar. The poll-bound state also got the biggest share of the tourism pie. The Centre will develop corridors on the lines of the Kashi Vishwanath temple corridor in Vishnupad temple in Gaya and Mahabodhi temple in Bodhgaya.

Besides, Nalanda will also be developed as a tourism hub. Rajgir will be developed as a major tourism site keeping in mind its significance for Hindus, Buddhists and Jains.

“On the Amritsar-Kolkata Industrial Corridor, we will support development of an industrial node at Gaya. This corridor will catalyse industrial development of the eastern region. The industrial node at Gaya will also be a good model for developing our ancient centres of cultural importance into future centres of modern economy. This model shall showcase “Vikas bhi Virasat bhi” in our growth trajectory,” she said.

The announcements in the Union Budget for Bihar assume great significance as the state as its assembly polls are scheduled to take place next year. Amid declining popularity of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the BJP will hope that the new announcements will give much-needed push to the BJP-JDU alliance in the elections

Andhra Pradesh

Sitharaman also announced that Rs 15,000 crore will be allocated for development of Amravati as Andhra Pradesh's capital. “Money to be raised from multilateral funding agencies and routed through the Centre,” she said.

Besides, the Centre allocated over Rs 3 lakh crore for schemes benefiting women and girls and stated that it is fully committed for completion and financing of Polavaram irrigation project.

Sitharaman further said funds will be provided for essential infrastructure such as water, power, railways, and roads for promoting industrial development under the AP Reorganisation Act. Moreover, grants for backward regions of Rayalaseema, Prakasam North coastal Andhra Pradesh, as stated in the Act will also be provided.

The special attention to Andhra Pradesh and Bihar hasn’t come as a surprise as Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP and Nitish Kumar-led JDU had emerged as kingmaker allies in the NDA coalition in the aftermath of the Lok Sabha elections.

‘Nothing for Bengal’

Meanwhile, the TMC hit out at the Centre, saying the budget presented by Sitharaman in the Lok Sabha has nothing for West Bengal.

The party referred to the Union Budget as ‘Andhra-Bihar’ and ‘kursi bachao’ budget, saying the BJP attempted to keep its allies, JDU and TDP, happy. “This is a 'kursi bachao budget' (budget to save the chair),” TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee said. "This budget is aimed at saving (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi's position. It is a budget for the NDA, not for India," he said. “Last time they gave so many projects to Odisha. Now they (BJP) have won (the Assembly polls in the state), so there is nothing for Odisha. There is also nothing for Bengal,” he said.

TMC's Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale alleged that there is an “open and shameless” discrimination against West Bengal in the budget. “Union Govt EXCLUDES ONLY BENGAL from flood relief & reconstruction funds. Giving funds to other states while intentionally ignoring & singling out the people of Bengal is yet another revenge for BJP’s pathetic performance in elections. West Bengal contributes significant revenues to the Union but faces pathetic targeting & exclusion yet again in the Union Budget,” he posted on X.