Patna, March 27 (IANS) With Bihar utilizing just 55.12 percent of central funds in the first 11 months of this fiscal, there is huge pressure to utilize the remaining 45 percent before March ends.
An official in the General Administration Department said this amounted to nearly Rs.13,000 crore.
The opposition is naturally talking about a possible “March loot” — a reference to a possible indiscriminate spending of the money received from the central government.
Last year too, the state ended up returning Rs.4,000 crore of unutilized funds to the central government.
According to government data, of the Rs.29,188-crore annual revised plan, the state has been able to spend 55.12 percent of it till the end of February.
This means the remaining amount has to be spent in March.
According to one source, till November 2011, departments like industries, commercial taxes, excise and prohibition had failed to spend a single rupee against their budgetary allocation.