Patna: Bihar faces a peculiar situation as it recorded higher growth rate than national average for three consecutive years but its per capita income is at the bottom.
Per Capita Income Low
Bihar finance Minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav on Monday contended that the state recorded a 13.1 percent growth in the 2024-25 financial year against the national average of 9.8 per cent.
According to Bihar Economic Survey for 2025-26 presented by Yadav in the assembly on the first day of the budget session, Bihar` Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) has consistently outpaced the country`s GDP growth, both at current and constant prices over the past three years. Bihar`s GSDP growth rates reached 17.9 percent in 2022-23 and 14.9 percent in 2023-24, compared to the national growth rates of 14 percent and 12 percent, respectively, at current prices. As per the quick estimates for 2024-25, Bihar GSDP (current prices) growth is estimated at 13.1 percent and the country`s GDP growth at 9.8 percent. At constant (2011-12) prices, Bihar`s economy is estimated to have achieved 8.6 percent growth in 2024-25, exceeding India’s 6.5 percent. These figures place Bihar among the fastest-growing states in India, the Economic Survey added.
Despite these encouraging figures, the Economic Survey of India, presented in the Lok Sabha, put Bihar at the bottom of the list as the poorest state in the country in terms of annual income per capita. The average annual income of a person is reported to be a little over Rs 70,000.
Fiscal Management Strong
The minister said that the state was progressing along a "high-growth trajectory", supported by "macroeconomic stability, sectoral diversification, increased investment, and a sustained focus on human capital development, employment generation and infrastructure enhancement".
Bihar's fiscal trajectory demonstrates "disciplined financial management" with the total expenditure by the state government increasing from Rs 1.66 lakh crore in 2020-21 to Rs 2.82 lakh crore in 2024-25.
State government also consistently prioritised outlay in sectors such as education, health, energy, transport, irrigation and agriculture, while maintaining fiscal prudence through moderate borrowing and effective debt servicing, he added.
The proportion of capital expenditure in the total outlay by the state government rose significantly from 15.8 per cent in 2020-21 to 22.3 per cent in 2024-25, the minister said. The share of revenue expenditure declined from 84.2 percent to 77.7 percent.
