Union Budget 2025: With eyes on Bihar polls, Nirmala Sitharaman presents Budget in Madhubani saree

NEW DELHI: Bihar assembly elections are due this year, so it was no surprise that Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman turned up in Parliament donning a Madhubani saree to present the Union Budget 2025.

In the first five minutes into speech, Sitharaman also announced establishment of a 'Makhana Board' to improve production and processing of fox nut.

The union minister is also expected to give a big bonanza to Bihar which will likely go to polls in November.

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Sitharaman's off-white saree with intricate golden work was gifted to her by Padma Shri awardee Dulari Devi, a self-taught Madhubani artist from Bihar. This budget will likely see special packages for Bihar, where Janata Dal (United) chief and BJP ally Nitish Kumar is seeking another term.

Nitish, along with Chandrababu Naidu, has also played a key role at the Centre as BJP failed to get majority on its own in recently held Lok Sabha polls.

In the budget, presented just after the Lok Sabha elections, the government had proposed Rs 26,000 crore budget for various road projects in Bihar.

Watch full speech of Nirmala Sitharaman

"On the Amritsar-Kolkata industrial corridor we will support the development of an industrial nod at Gaya in Bihar.It will catalyse the development of the easter region. We will also support the development of road connectivity projects- Patna -Purnea expressway, Buxar- Bhagalpur highway, Bodhgaya- Rajgir-Vaishali- Darbhanga and an additional two-lane bridge over river Ganga in Buxar for Rs 26,000 crores," Sitharaman had said while presenting Budget 2024 in the Parliament.

The government also announced setting up airports, medical colleges and sports infrastructure in Bihar. To promote tourism, the finance minister had announced major plans for the state. "Vishnupad temple corridor and Mahabodhi temple corridor to be transformed into world class pilgrim and tourist destinations," Sitharaman had announced. Along with this, the Centre also announced plan to comprehensively developed Rajgir and Nalanda.

Get real-time updates on Budget 2025 and Income Tax Slabs on Times of India. Watch the full Budget 2025 speech video.