Chief Minister's request for early completion of DPR for Kosi River High Level Dam Union Finance Minister Mrs. Directed by Nirmala Seetha Raman

Patna, August 21, 2026: Chief Minister Mr. Samrat Choudhary along with Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary and Rajya Sabha Member Sanjay Kumar Jha met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Union External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar in New Delhi and had positive and fruitful discussions on various important issues related to the development of Bihar. In the meeting, the funding of the state and implementation of various schemes were discussed in detail as per the announcements made for Bihar in the Union Budget. The Chief Minister requested the necessary cooperation from the Center for the development of Bihar and immediate action on pending issues.
Regarding the Kosi-Machi inter-state canal link project, the issue of money required for the first phase and technical clearance for the second phase was prominently raised. The Union Finance Minister directed the National Water Development Authority (NWDA) and the Jal Shakti Ministry to take necessary action in this regard. The Chief Minister said that the progress of this project will greatly benefit irrigation, agriculture and water management in Semanchal region of Bihar. Discussions were also held regarding the Sapta Kosi project. On the request of the Chief Minister, the Union Finance Minister directed the speedy completion of the DPR for the high-level dam on the Kosi river. The meeting agreed to ensure that one member from Bihar would be included in the Joint Technical Experts Committee, which would effectively represent the interests of the state on technical matters related to the project. A focus was also placed on providing more centralized assistance to Bihar through SNA and SPARSH to implement it by September 30, and effectively implementing the Reform Based Incentive under SASCI. The Chief Minister said that this would help the state to get additional financial resources for development projects.
Establishment of Vikramsheela University was also discussed in the meeting. The Chief Minister said that the Bihar government has provided 219 acres of land for the university in Bhagalpur. Similarly, the state government has also provided 100 acres of land for NIFTEM at Hajipur. The Chief Minister requested the Central Government to speed up the work on both the institutions.
Chief Minister Mr. Chaudhary said that the meeting was very positive, and the Central Government assured positive cooperation and necessary action on important issues related to the development of Bihar. Attention was also paid to early commencement of work on Son-Phalgu River Link Project, Mahabodhi Corridor, and Vaishnupad Temple Corridor. He said that the central and state governments are working rapidly to ensure overall development of Bihar, expand infrastructure and ensure availability of maximum central resources to the state.