The Hindu Business Line : New industrial policy for Bihar on the anvil

INVESTMENT MEET: The Bihar Chief Minister, Mr Nitish Kumar, with the Assocham President, Mr Anil K. Agarwal, at a conference on ` Investment opportunities in Bihar' in New Delhi. — Kamal Narang

New Delhi , March 12

Bihar would shortly announce its new industrial policy with a host of fiscal incentives, said the Chief Minister of Bihar, Mr Nitish Kumar, on Saturday.

Inaugurating The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) conference on `Investment opportunities in Bihar', he said that the new policy would be industry and investment-friendly which would have several provisions such as sales tax and value added tax exemptions and public investment support for infrastructural projects.

Inviting businessmen to invest in the State, he said that Bihar's law and order situation had improved dramatically.

"Bihar will not only provide adequate law and order safety to businessmen investing in the State but also offer them state-owned security", said the Chief Minister.

In view of Bihar's focus for its industrial development, the Minister said that he met Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, who had assured him that the Central Government, through Power Ministry, would ask the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and National Hydro-Electric Power Corporation (NHPC) to put up 2,500 MW capacity power project to generate thermal and hydro energy in Bihar.

The NTPC alone would put up power project of 2500 MW capacities for which the official process would shortly begin, said Mr. Nitish Kumar.

UNI reports

He also met top officials of the Power Ministry, who assured him that the Union Government will ask NHPC to put up a series of small hydro plants in the State which had potential for generating hydro energy.

``The State Government will not only provide adequate law and order safety to businessmen investing in the State but also offer them state-owned security,'' the Chief Minister said, adding that investment/no investment was an issue with the state government and was not linked to law and order.

The administration was not looking for private investment alone; it is laying an adequate thrust to enhance the public investment to uplift the face of Bihar's economy.

Mr Nitish Kumar said that his Government's priority in the next few years would be to let Bihar get a sound industrial base for heavy industries, food processing, religious tourism and the like.

``Besides the fact that the State has fertile land, the focus of my Government will be to ensure that Bihar is no longer identified with an agrarian economy as the new administration wants to promote Bihar as a hub of heavy and engineering industries which are labour-intensive so that the unemployment problem is eradicated in the state,'' the Chief Minister said.

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