Mod 2: Budget, public finance and economic figures

The budget in force: Finance Minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav presented the Budget for 2026–27 on 3 February 2026. It is slightly before this six-month window, and it is the budget under which the state is spending. The figures below are from the PRS Legislative Research analysis of the budget documents, not from a later cabinet press note.

Total expenditure, including debt repayment, is estimated at ₹3,47,590 crore. That is the figure often rounded to ₹3.47 lakh crore. The 2025–26 budget estimate was ₹3,16,895 crore. Expenditure excluding debt repayment is ₹3,24,925 crore, and debt repayment is ₹22,665 crore. GSDP at current prices is projected at ₹13.1 lakh crore, growth of 15 per cent. The fiscal deficit is targeted at 3 per cent of GSDP, or ₹39,112 crore. Net borrowings are estimated at ₹39,275 crore. A revenue surplus of 0.1 per cent of GSDP (₹1,143 crore) is estimated.

The revised estimates for 2025–26 in the same documents are a different set of numbers. Expenditure excluding debt repayment is put at ₹4,00,465 crore, and the fiscal deficit at 11.8 per cent of GSDP. PRS notes that revised estimates in Bihar have run well above later actuals. Do not treat 11.8 per cent and the CRISIL figure below as the same statistic.

Economy and own taxes: In 2024–25, at current prices, agriculture, manufacturing and services are estimated at 23 per cent, 23 per cent and 54 per cent. Per capita GSDP is estimated at ₹76,490, against India’s per capita GDP of ₹2,34,859. At constant prices, Bihar’s GSDP growth for 2024–25 is estimated at 8.6 per cent, against 6.5 per cent for India. The state’s own tax revenue for 2026–27 is estimated at ₹65,800 crore, about 5 per cent of GSDP. State GST is estimated to be 58 per cent of own tax revenue.

Where the money is placed: As a share of expenditure, education is 21.7 per cent (the average for states in 2025–26 was 14.5 per cent), health 6.3 per cent, rural development 9.4 per cent, police 5.2 per cent, roads and bridges 2.9 per cent, and agriculture 2.6 per cent (the state average for agriculture was 5.7 per cent). In rupees, the 2026–27 estimates include education, sports, arts and culture ₹70,141 crore; Samagra Shiksha ₹12,107 crore; health ₹20,230 crore; rural development ₹30,387 crore; social welfare and nutrition ₹24,710 crore; energy ₹18,649 crore, of which the power subsidy is ₹15,702 crore. MGNREGS is allocated ₹3,192 crore and Viksit Bharat–G Ram G (VB-G-RAM-G) ₹1,890 crore. Mahila Sashaktikaran is ₹9,052 crore, against a 2025–26 revised estimate of ₹21,050 crore. Committed expenditure on salaries, pension and interest is ₹1,33,494 crore, or 47 per cent of estimated revenue receipts.

Sixteenth Finance Commission: The report, chaired by Dr Arvind Panagariya, was tabled on 1 February 2026 for 2026–27 to 2030–31. The states’ share of the divisible pool stays at 41 per cent. Bihar’s share of that pool is 9.95 per cent. Grants recommended for Bihar are ₹9,169 crore for urban local bodies, ₹51,923 crore for rural local bodies, and ₹13,615 crore for disaster management. Patna is eligible for a special infrastructure grant of up to ₹5,000 crore for wastewater management. On 2 September 2026 the cabinet approved allocation of the ₹9,169 crore urban basic and performance grants on a 90:10 split of population and own-source revenue, with Patna Municipal Corporation’s special infrastructure component and urbanisation premium, and set up a state high-powered steering committee and a state technical committee.

May borrowing, and the October fiscal discussion: In May 2026 the cabinet, as reported by The Times of India, approved raising ₹72,901 crore through market borrowings and other instruments. That approval is not the same number as the budget’s net borrowings of ₹39,275 crore. A CRISIL study of 17 major states, reported by Business Standard on 11 August 2026 and based on CAG data, put Bihar’s 2025–26 fiscal deficit at 5.8 per cent of GSDP, the widest in that group. Jharkhand was the narrowest, at 1.2 per cent. The 17 states together were at 3.2 per cent. Dainik Jagran on 26 September reported the 2025–26 figure as 5.82 per cent, and an 18 October roundup used 5.82 per cent for large states while citing Meghalaya at 8.69 per cent in a wider list. The Finance Minister said the deficit would be brought under control and pointed to unbudgeted flood spending. The Finance Department asked departments for second supplementary proposals by 23 October 2026. An October report put own revenue at about ₹70,000 crore against a budget of about ₹3.48 lakh crore. That “own revenue” is wider than the budget’s own-tax estimate of ₹65,800 crore.

On 30 September 2026 the cabinet approved the interim recommendations of the Seventh State Finance Commission, chaired by Ashok Kumar Chaudhary, for 2026–27 and 2027–28. The interim report had been submitted to the government on 22 September. The same sitting approved an advance of ₹477 crore from the Bihar Contingency Fund for Anganwadi honoraria through August and for ICDS office staff through November. VAT on aviation turbine fuel was cut from 1 per cent to zero.

Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana, launched in September 2025 and still the large cash-transfer head in this budget, has given an initial ₹10,000 to 1.56 crore women, with up to ₹2 lakh more when an enterprise is started.

Exam View: Key Takeaways

• Presented: 3 February 2026, by Bijendra Prasad Yadav.
• Total expenditure: ₹3,47,590 crore. Fiscal-deficit target: 3 per cent, ₹39,112 crore.
• GSDP: ₹13.1 lakh crore. Per capita GSDP, 2024–25: ₹76,490. Services share: 54 per cent.
• Own tax: ₹65,800 crore. Bihar’s divisible-pool share: 9.95 per cent.
• Two deficit figures: CRISIL/CAG about 5.8 per cent for 2025–26; budget revised estimate 11.8 per cent. They are not interchangeable.

One-liners

• Who presented the 2026–27 Budget, and on which date? — Bijendra Prasad Yadav, 3 February 2026
• What is the fiscal-deficit target for 2026–27? — 3 per cent of GSDP, ₹39,112 crore
• What is Bihar’s share of the divisible pool under the 16th Finance Commission? — 9.95 per cent
• Which rural-local-body grant did the 16th Finance Commission recommend for Bihar? — ₹51,923 crore
• Among 17 major states in the August 2026 CRISIL study, whose fiscal deficit was the widest? — Bihar, at 5.8 per cent of GSDP

Budget arithmetic is from PRS Legislative Research. The May borrowing figure is from The Times of India. The 5.8 per cent finding is from CRISIL via Business Standard (11 August 2026). The 30 September decisions are from IANS and Dainik Jagran.