Bihar’s Energy Sector Sees Major Boost with ₹13,484 Crore Budget for 2025-26

The Energy Department has achieved unprecedented achievements in the field of power generation, transmission and distribution under the leadership of Hon'ble Chief Minister Shri Nitish Kumar. The Hon'ble Energy Minister presented a grant demand of Rs 13,484.3517 crore on behalf of the Energy Department for the financial year 2025-26 in the Legislative Assembly.

The Hon'ble Energy Minister said that in the financial year 2023-24, with the cooperation of the electricity consumers of the state, the distribution companies collected a record revenue of Rs 15,109 crore, registering a profit of Rs 1,274 crore. This reduced the electricity rates of consumers by 15 paise per unit in the current financial year. The state government is committed to providing cheap electricity to the people.

Many schemes are being run to provide relief to consumers in the field of power distribution. Under the Chief Minister Vidyut Sahayata Yojana, a grant of Rs 15,343 crore was given to electricity consumers in this financial year, which provided relief in electricity rates to all categories of consumers. Irrigation electricity rate for farmers has been reduced to just 55 paise per unit, making irrigation 10 times cheaper than diesel pumps. So far, 5.81 lakh farmers have been given electricity connection under the Chief Minister Krishi Vidyut Sambandh Yojana, while the target is to provide connection to the remaining farmers by September 2026. Construction of 2274 agricultural feeders has been completed under the RDSS scheme, ensuring uninterrupted power supply to the farmers.

Bihar is leading the country in smart pre-paid meter installation. More than 62 lakh smart pre-paid meters have been installed so far, giving consumers more control over their electricity consumption.

Due to its better management and efficiency, the aggregate technical and commercial loss has come down from 59.24 percent in 2005 to 19.94 percent so far in 2025.

In his budget speech, Hon'ble Energy Minister Shri Bijendra Prasad Yadav said that the total installed capacity of various thermal power plants in the state at present including Barauni, Kanti, Barh, Nabinagar, Kahalgaon is 8,850 MW. A new unit of 660 MW capacity of Barh Thermal Power Project will start generation from this year, while the 1,320 MW thermal power project at Buxar (Chausa) will be implemented in 2025-26. A 2,400 MW thermal power project at Pirpainti in Bhagalpur has been approved, making it the largest private investment project in the state.

Talking about renewable energy, Hon'ble Energy Minister said that under Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali Abhiyan, so far 100 MW rooftop solar plants have been installed on 11,383 government buildings and 21 MW on 5,683 private buildings. More than 178 MW of electricity is being generated through various solar projects in the state. Floating solar projects of 1.6 MW in Darbhanga, 525 kW in Supaul and 10 MW in Phulwaria Nawada are operational. Construction of a 2 MW canal-side solar project is underway at Vikram in Patna.

He informed that two solar projects of 301 MW each are under construction at Kajra in Lakhisarai with a total battery storage capacity of 495 MW-hours, which will be the largest battery storage project in the country.

Talking about Bihar's remarkable achievements in the field of transmission, the Energy Minister informed that the tender for construction of 10 new grid substations announced by the Hon'ble Chief Minister during the Pragati Yatra has been done. Bihar's transmission company has been awarded A+ ranking by the Government of India this year. For the first time, three grid substations based on GIS technology have been started for power supply, which has further strengthened the power supply system of the state.

In his budget speech, the Hon'ble Energy Minister informed that 500 MW-hour battery energy storage system will be installed at 16 grid sub-stations in Bihar in the financial year 2025-26. A 10 MW floating solar project will be started at Durgawati Dam in Kaimur, a 20 MW solar project on the banks of canals and a 20 MW raised structure solar project in ponds/chaur areas.

A scheme of Rs 296.93 crore has been approved for strengthening and modernization of power infrastructure of Patna city, the work of which will be started next year. A scheme of Rs 422.90 crore has been approved to provide electricity to 42,621 households in 219 villages of West Champaran, Supaul, Kaimur, Rohtas, Jamui, Munger, Lakhisarai, Nawada, Katihar, Purnia and Banka districts, which is targeted to be completed next year.

He concluded his budget speech by saying that through these comprehensive reforms and new projects in the power sector, the State Government is continuously working and striving to ensure better, affordable and uninterrupted power supply to the citizens of the State.