Patna: Encouraged by growing interest among entrepreneurs to invest in Bihar, the state industries department is looking to create landbanks for faster execution of credible investment plans of several industrial houses.
Chief minister Nitish Kumar during his ‘Pragati Yatra’ in Sitamarhi last week had announced setting up an industrial area on 500 acre land in the district. The CM was in Sitamarhi to inaugurate the Riga Sugar Mill, which was brought in operation after five-year shut down.
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Industries secretary Bandana Preyashi also conducted site inspections in Mahua, Rajapakar and Jandaha blocks of Vaishali on December 27 to identify around 1,200-acre plots to acquire them for development of industrial areas. “We are identifying suitable land in all districts to create land banks for industries for faster implementation of the investment proposals,” said Preyashi.
A senior officer of the department said that the state was drawing the attention of investors in great numbers. “During the recently held Bihar Business Connect, more than 400 industrial houses have signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) to invest around ₹1.81 lakh crore in different sectors, thanks to the proactive approach of the government. We need to implement their investment plans,” he said.
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During the 2023 global summit for investors, a total of 278 MOUs were signed with a commitment to invest ₹50,530 crore in the state. Out of this, 244 schemes of investment amount of ₹38,000 crores have been implemented. Preyashi said that around 10,000 people got jobs in the 2023-24 year due to the investments brought in through the last year’s business summit. “More than 11,352 people have got jobs in the current fiscal so far,” she added.
Apart from this, the state government has signed the letter of intents (LoI) with 14 industrial houses to set up food processing industries, worth over ₹2,181 crore. Union food processing minister Chirag Paswan and state industries minister Nitish Mishra had attended the business meet for entrepreneurs in the food processing sector, which was held in early December.
Also Read: ₹2,181-Cr LoI inked for investment in Bihar’s food processing sector
Chief secretary Amrit Lal Meena, who had interacted with top honchos of several companies, had also assured of total cooperation from the state government, which included facilitating expeditious acquisition of land to set up the industries. He has also announced to nominate nodal officers to parlay with the select group of four-five investors and facilitate early clearances of their investment proposals. “We need to catch the investment opportunities to make the state an industrial hub in the east, and create job opportunities for the youths,” said the officer.
