PATNA, Sept. 20 -- In this poll season, the rain of sops that the Bihar government led by chief minister Nitish Kumar has showered - and may continue to do so till the announcement of election dates - on various groups of beneficiaries must have pleased people, but the government exchequer might be feeling the pinch. The government largesse is estimated to cost around Rs.30,000 crore and could cut into the outlay of developmental projects underway in the state. The government representatives and both ruling JD(U) and BJP leaders however deny that welfare schemes announced by the Nitish Kumar government would eat into allocation for the development works and insist that "the government will manage the finances" judiciously. As soon as the state entered into a poll mode this summer, the state government began announcing measures to provide succour to various sections of people, most notably women, youth and vulnerable groups such as elderly, disabled and widows. Here is a quick look at the government-announced schemes and hand-outs in recent months. On June 22, the government in an ambitious move increased the allowance/pension for widows, disabled and elderly from Rs.400 to Rs.1,100 per month, effective from July 1. It will, according to estimation, put an additional load of Rs.9,100 crore. "The earlier pension of Rs.400 to widows/disabled as per social security schemes used to be borne by Centre and state in the ratio of Rs.300 and Rs.100. But now the hike of Rs.700 is being paid by the state government, which is an additional load of Rs.9,100 crore estimated," said an official of a concerned department in the state government. On July 17, officials said the government would provide 125 units of free power to households (covering around 6.7 million families) from August 1. The move will foot a bill of Rs.5,000 for the state finance department. The government was already giving subsidies to domestic subscribers, which was costing the state exchequer Rs.16,000 crore in each fiscal year. Plus, the government had said that over the next three years, with the consent of domestic consumers, solar power plants will be installed on their rooftops and at nearby public places. Later, the chief minister announced the hike in honorarium to Asha workers from Rs.1,000 to Rs.3,000 per month (estimated to cost Rs.238 crore additionally), hike in honorarium to Mamata workers (Rs.50 crore estimated) interest/ subsidy to Jeevika workers (estimated Rs.225 crore), hike in payments to ratri praharis (estimated Rs.36 crore), hike in honorariums to Rasoiya (cooks) (estimated Rs.350 crore) and hike in honorarium to health instructors from Rs.8,000 to Rs.16,000 (estimated to cost additionally Rs.22 crore). On September 8, the CM announced financial assistance to promote entrepreneurship among women. Ass part of this announcement, CM Kumar said that Rs.10,000 would be provided to women under Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana to eligible beneficiaries for starting their businesses. It is estimated to cost Rs.15,000 crore as around 1.5 crore women are likely to be covered under this scheme. The expenditure is going to rise further as those women who do well in their enterprise are eligible to get Rs.2 lakh additional fund, as per the announcement. "By an estimate the announcements so far in the last few months are expected to put an additional load of Rs.30,000 crore. It could be more if new schemes are announced in coming days," said a senior official in the state government. On Wednesday, the CM made another announcement of giving Rs.1,000 as unemployment allowance to graduates, which is set to escalate the expenditure bill further, official said. Evidently, the rise in expenditure has left finance managers in the state government to look for avenues to raise the revenue with many agreeing that the escalated expenditure mainly in wages and free power would lead to reduction in capital expenditure (meaning works taken for development like infrastructure, asset creation, etc). "Capital expenditure could be affected as the government's committed expenditure is rising now owing to new social security measures and other sops. Revenue generation is, of course, a big challenge," said an official in the state finance department, seeking anonymity. Bihar's state budget outlay for 2025-26 is Rs.3.16 lakh crore of which Rs.2 lakh crore is earmarked for committed expenditure (salary, establishment, pension, interest payment, etc). Amit Bakshi, economist associated with Institute of Public Finance and Policy, Patna, maintained that capital expenditure of the government is likely to shrink as the rise in expenditure owing to new sops would leave less money for building assets, infrastructure from state funds. "The government has now the pressure of increasing revenue, especially state revenue to meet the expenses and also have money for capital expenditure," he said, adding that there is still some uncertainty as to how much central devolutions Bihar would get from next year when 16th finance commission recommendations would be effected. "There should have been some caution in announcing initiatives like providing 125 units of free power or other sops as Bihar having maintained a high growth trajectory does carry the risk of falling in debt trap, in case the borrowings rise substantially in coming years. The debt in gross state domestic product (GSDP) ratio is already on the higher side," said another economist based in Patna, wishing not to be named. Significantly, a section of state finance officials exuded confidence that the fiscal health of the state was robust with fund management being done through investments and borrowings as per the prescribed limits of the FRBM act. They also highlighted that Bihar was receiving higher central devolutions in the past many years, a reason the government has cushioned to escalate its expenditure. This fiscal year 2025-26, Bihar is likely to get Rs.1.43 lakh crore with another Rs.30,000 crore as central grants. Rs.64,000 crore has already been disbursed to Bihar. Besides, the state's internal revenue target for this fiscal is around Rs.60,000 crore, which is a substantial rise from previous years. "We have kept our borrowings limited and there are investments pumping in. Our revenue is also rising . So, the new sops being announced would not have much financial strain on the state exchequer. In other states, the borrowings have been very heavy unlike in Bihar in the past many years," said an official in the finance department, in the know of the matter. He also stressed that all new initiatives/schemes were being done after due budgetary provision and subsequent cabinet approval. In this fiscal year, the government has so far borrowed Rs.12,000 crore from the market as against the permissible limit of Rs.30,000 crore, officials said. Deputy chief minister cum finance minister Samrat Choudhary said the state government had introduced some schemes for the welfare of the general masses and give financial assistance to people from different sectors. "We will ensure that all new schemes and hikes in honoraria for different sections of people run smoothly. We are taking all measures for arranging funds and there would not be any shortage of funds for development works in the state," Choudhary said, reacting to the queries as to whether the enhancement of the expenditure bill of estimated Rs.30,000 crore could put pressure on the state exchequer and adversely impact the fiscal health of the state Principal secretary finance department Anand Kishor could not be reached for comments despite repeated attempts....