WHAT WE WANT

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday likened the Union budget to a board examination in his radio address on Mann Ki Baat

I too have an exam tomorrow. 125 crore people are going to take my examination

A day before Union finance minister Arun Jaitley presents the general budget in Parliament, Piyush Kumar Tripathi asks five questions to people on their wishes.

Bihar has high expectations from the general budget that Union finance minister Arun Jaitley will present on Monday.

The state's key sectors such as agriculture, healthcare to tourism and civil aviation are all looking forward to a game-changer budget with big bang ideas that will help push individuals as well the state onto a high-growth trajectory. The Telegraph presents a snapshot of the prevailing scenario in different segments of the economy in Bihar and their expectations from the budget.

Agriculture

It is the backbone of Bihar's economy, but the recent state economic survey indicates all is not well with the agriculture sector in the state despite the Nitish Kumar government's agriculture roadmap that aims at a "rainbow revolution".

"We are facing drought for the past three years, and hope the Narendra Modi government will provide incentives for alleviating farmers' plight," said Prem Chand Tiwari, a farmer from Bhore block in Gopalganj district. "The budget should have special packages for small farmers and crop-insurance schemes. The central government should also make significant provisions in the budget for strengthening the irrigation and public distribution systems."

Health

The state has a few grouses with the Centre over the last budget's unfulfilled promises, such as a second All India Institute of Medical Science. Other such promises include a virology lab, and two research centres - at Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga. The Centre, the state contends, has also not provided enough funds under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana to upgrade medical colleges and hospitals.

"In north Bihar, there has been outbreak of diseases such as kala-azar and encephalitis," pointed out Sunil Kumar Singh, member of the state chapter of Indian Medical Association. "The Union government should fulfil its promise of setting up research centres to probe the reasons for the outbreak of these diseases."

Industry

The industrial sector in Bihar still revolves around small- and medium-scale industries as large manufacturing firms shun the state because of lack of support from the state government in providing land and other incentives. The contribution of the industrial sector to Bihar's gross state domestic product (GSDP) stood at 18.4 per cent in 2013-14. In 2012-13, it stood at 18.1 per cent. The figure was 19.9 per cent in 2011-12.

"We want an industry-oriented special package for Bihar or grant of special status, which could boost industries in the state," said Ram Lal Khetan, president, Bihar Industries Association.

Tourism

The Buddhist circuit dominates the state tourism industry, and attracts hundreds of thousands of people. The tourist inflow to Bihar in 2014-15 was the highest in the past 14 years: 2.33 crore, of which 2.25 crore were domestic and 8.29 lakh were foreign tourists. Still there is dearth of infrastructure, including roadside eateries, tourist buses and quality lodging facilities.

"We expect the budget to have provisions for exemption in service taxes for the new entrants," said K.N. Jha, manager, Indo Hokke Hotel, Rajgir, and a tourism expert. "I hope the Modi government increases the quantum of government expenditure in the Buddhist circuit."

Realty

Patna - which the recent state economic survey says is Bihar's only city - occupies centre-stage in Bihar's realty sector, and its market size is approximately 10 per cent of the state GSDP. However, the capital's realty market has been witnessing a slump for the past two to three years because of policy matters such as delay in approval of master plans and setback in approval of maps.

"We expect some reduction in service tax, from 14.5 per cent to 12 per cent," said Sachin Chandra, former state president, Bihar chapter, Builders' Association of India. "We expect relief in income tax in low-cost housing segments. There should be incentives for group housing projects and for promotion of vertical growth."

Civil aviation

Patna airport used to be ranked among the top airports in terms of passenger footfall during the last decade. However, the traffic has started witnessing negative growth from 2012-13. In terms of aircraft movement, only four airlines - Air India, GoAir, Jet Airways and IndiGo - operate from here and there is no intrastate air connectivity.

"The Centre should make budgetary allocation for development of low-cost regional airports," said Mirza Faizan, a US-based aviation expert who is originally from Patna. "The budget should have provisions for substantial tax exemption of aviation turbine fuel for low-cost airlines. Regional operators should be given priority for operational licence."