Bihar Deputy Chief Minister cum Finance Minister Tarakeswar Prasad will present the budget of the state government today. The budget will be presented in the house at 2 pm, for which the Finance Department has already completed all the preparations. The Nitish Kumar government is expected to lay special emphasis on enhancing technical education, skill development and employment generation. Officials said the Budget may have some big announcements in terms of the generation of jobs both in the private and public sectors to push growth. Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal has been critical of the government for failing in fulfilling its poll promise of 1.9 million jobs. The government has fast-tracked the recruitment of 42000 teachers. It is likely to invite applications for vacancies in health, commercial taxes, and other departments.
Budgetary provisions will be made regarding the announcement of a new department by merging ITI and Polytechnic together. At the same time, funds will be arranged for the development of polytechnic colleges as centers of excellence. The Nitish Kumar government is expected to focus its attention on reinforcing the state health system and women's development. Besides, there may also be proposals to provide better treatment facilities to patients in government hospitals and build a new hospital. The state budget could give more money than last year. The state economic survey for 2021-2022 had indicated that there could be an increase in expenditure outlay in the upcoming annual budget. The Bihar budget for 2021-22 was Rs 2,18,302 crore. With the estimate of an increase of about ten percent, this time the budget of Bihar is to be estimated at Rs2.4 lakh crore. The state government is believed to have got an assurance of up to ₹10000 crore in interest-free loans under capital expenditure (CAPEX) fund of ₹1 lakh crore for states in the Union Budget for infrastructure. Bihar received loans of ₹843 crore in 2020-21 and ₹1246 crore in 2021-22 from the Centre under the fund.