Union minister of state for planning and parliamentary affairs Rajeev Shukla today pledged Rs 151 crore to the state for developing the site of Nalanda University and constructing the National Dolphin Research Centre in Patna.

Taking forward the Centre’s generosity towards chief minister Nitish Kumar after he came out of the NDA, the Union minister said Rs 45 crore would be released immediately for the projects. After the JD(U) and the BJP parted ways, the Centre has allotted three coal blocks for mega power projects in Bihar. It recently approved Rs 4,330 crore for the construction of rural roads in Bihar, the maximum funds allotted to any state in the past 12 years. It unilaterally increased the state’s energy quota by 150MW from the central sector.

After a meeting between Nitish and Shukla today, state tourism secretary Mihir Kumar Singh said the state had sent a proposal of Rs 123 crore for the development of the area in which Nalanda International University was being constructed in Rajgir and another of Rs 28 crore for the construction of the National Dolphin Research Centre in Patna. “The Union minister has said Rs 45 crore would be released as additional central assistance for the two schemes while the rest of the funds would be approved later,” he said.

Singh said the two leaders also talked about the state tourism department’s seven proposal awaiting the Centre’s approval. The cost of the seven schemes, including a new ropeway in Rajgir, is to the tune of Rs 56 crore.