Bihar govt spent ₹3,200 crore on pre-poll welfare schemes, shows data

Bihar announces ₹3,200 crore pre-poll welfare schemes, including ₹10,000 for 15 million women, ahead of election schedule announcement

In the run up to the announcement of the Bihar poll schedule, the state government announced several welfare schemes, including disbursing ₹10,000 to 15 million women under the Mahila Rozgar Yojana. 

Axis Bank Research has estimated the pre-poll welfare announcements by the Bihar government until Monday (the announcement of the poll schedule by the Election Commission) to be to the tune of ₹3,200 crore, or 2.9 per cent of FY26 gross state domestic product (GSDP). 

The Research, led by Axis Bank’s Chief Economist Neelkanth Mishra, stated that the 2.9 per cent is in addition to the 3 per cent budgeted deficit. “But we don’t expect a breach of the 3 per cent of the GSDP target,” the research stated. 

It said the 2.9 per cent of its GSDP that Bihar is spending on pre-poll welfare sch­emes is one of the highest among all states.