Nirmala Sitharaman.
Credit: PTI Photo
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a plan for the overall development of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. This plan has been named ‘Purvodaya’.
During the Budget speech, the FM said, "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."
On the Amritsar-Kolkata Industrial Corridor, the government will support the 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," Sitharaman said.
Regarding Gaya, the FM said, "The Vishnupad temple at Gaya and the Mahabodhi temple at Bodh Gaya in Bihar are of immense spiritual significance. Comprehensive development of the Vishnupad temple corridor and the Mahabodhi temple corridor will be supported, modelled on the successful Kashi Vishwanath temple corridor to transform them into world-class pilgrim and tourist destinations."
In her address, she also made announcements for the development of Rajgir and Nalanda in Bihar.
"Rajgir holds immense religious significance for Hindus, Buddhists and Jains. The 20th Tirthankara Munisuvrat temple in the Jain temple complex is ancient. The Saptarishi or the seven hot springs form a warm water Brahm Kund that is sacred. A comprehensive development initiative for Rajgir will be undertaken.
"Our government will support the development of Nalanda as a tourist centre, besides reviving Nalanda University to its glorious stature," she added.
Here are other excerpts from her Budget speech regarding the Purvodaya scheme:
1) "We will also support development of road connectivity projects, namely (1) Patna-Purnea Expressway, (2) Buxar-Bhagalpur Expressway, (3) Bodhgaya, Rajgir, Vaishali and Darbhanga spurs, and (4) additional 2-lane bridge over river Ganga at Buxar at a total cost of ` 26,000 crore. Power projects, including setting up of a new 2400 MW power plant at Pirpainti, will be taken up at a cost of ` 21,400 crore. New airports, medical colleges and sports infrastructure in Bihar will be constructed.
2) "An additional allocation to support capital investments will be provided. The requests of Bihar Government for external assistance from multilateral development banks will be expedited."
With PTI inputs