The Hindu Business Line : `Eastern States have great future'

My Government has so far received more than 100 proposals for setting up various industrial units in the State and 61 of them have been cleared. But we need to gear up our infrastructure, particularly power and communication. — Mr Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister of Bihar

The Bihar Chief Minister, Mr Nitish Kumar, completed one year in office recently — an achievement in itself considering the multitude of problems the State faces. While there has been no dramatic turnaround in Bihar's economy in past year, the Chief Minister is hopeful, not only about the State's future but that of the eastern region. In a recent interview to Business Line in his office in Patna, Mr Kumar discussed various issues confronting his government.

Excerpts from the interview:

How would you rate your performance in past one year?

My rating should be done by others, preferably independent people. I can only say that things have started moving in Bihar after a long time.

Have you set any targets?

Bihar has to become a developed State by 2015 so that it is not out of tune with the President's Vision 2020.

Any roadmap...

There are so many things to do; we are fighting on many fronts.

Such as...

For example, industry. The development of agro-based industries has been identified as the thrust area. We have no choice. After all, the mineral-rich districts of the erstwhile Bihar State have gone to Jharkhand. We are left with droughts and floods, though our lands are fertile. The proposals for 15 sugarcane-based units in an industrial complex, complete with sugar mills, power generation systems, ethanol plants, and so on, have been cleared.

There are also proposals for maize-based ethanol projects and four such projects have been given approval. Begusarai and Samastipur are some of the main maize-growing districts.

During my recent visit to the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, I saw excellent presentations by some students on the industrial potential of Bihar. I had no idea that Bihar could also be an ideal location for making wine from litchis, produced in abundance in the State.

Are you offering special incentives for setting up industries the State?

Yes, we are offering attractive packages in the form of capital subsidy, sales tax relief and power tariff concessions, among other things.

What about the sugar mills?

Many of them have taken advantage of the package and embarked on capacity expansion and diversification.

What about the State government-owned mills?

Not much hope. There are 15 such mills, all closed and awaiting liquidation.

What about various private (non-sugar) mills closed for a long time?

There are not many such mills. The biggest one is located at Dalmia Nagar. I believe it has gone into liquidation. I don't think we can do anything about its revival right now. But there are excellent facilities in that complex. If any private entrepreneur is interested and wants to develop the area, we would welcome such interest and see what we can do.

No problem in land acquisition for new industrial units...

There has been absolutely no problem. This is because, in most cases, the State government has virtually no role to play. The promoters of the new projects identify the land and talk directly to their owners. But the State Government will certainly acquire land whenever needed. It has set up a land bank with a corpus of Rs 200 crore and the State government will pay more than the market price. A committee has been set up to look into it. The land-owners are convinced that they stand to benefit from industrial units on their lands.

Are there proposals for any other industries?

There are proposals for cement plants based on the fly-ash produced by the central sector power plants at Kahalgaon and Barh. The State has no iron ore or coal; so the production of primary steel is ruled out but there are opportunities for secondary steel producing units. There are also a lot of opportunities in the fruit- and food-processing industry.

The Government has so far received more than 100 proposals for setting up various industrial units in the State and 61 of them, totalling an investment of Rs 26,000 crore, have been cleared. We have set up a State-level investment promotion board — a one-window clearance facility, headed by a Development Commissioner of the rank of Chief Secretary — for speedy clearance of the projects. I personally monitor the projects from time to time.

When will all these projects be completed?

Hopefully, in three-four years. But we need to gear up our infrastructure, particularly power and communication. Right now, we are almost entirely dependent on central sector power plants for power supply as the Bihar State Electricity Board has virtually stopped generating. We have given the BSEB plants in Barauni and Kanti to NTPC and BHEL for revamping and resuming generation. There are also plans for three new thermal power plants at Nabinagar, which is close to the North Karanpurra coalfield; at Pir Painty, near the Lalmatia coalfield; and at Katihar.

While private sector participation is welcome, I have requested NTPC to examine if it is interested in these projects. There are also proposals for three new hydel projects at Koshi, Indrapuri and Kaimur. The Indrapuri project was mooted as early as 1984 and I am trying to revive it.

On the infrastructure front, a good deal of emphasis is being placed on the construction of roads. As the National Highways are being taken care by the Centre, we are focussing on the State-level highways, and rural roads. Under the Prime Minister's Gram Sadak Yojana, villages with a population of over 1,000 are being connected by roads. Under the Chief Minister's Gram Sadak Yojana, villages with a population of 500 and above will be connected and Rs 300 crore has been allocated for this in 2006-07. But this amount could be used to take up projects three times as large.

You were responsible for the creation of new railway zones, including the Hajipur-headquartered East Central Railway. Are you happy with its performance?

The pace of development of various railway projects in Bihar leaves much to be desired. But I will refrain from commenting on it. Maybe the Railways has its own priorities and problems. I would draw your attention to another important issue. I strongly feel the country's land-locked States must have dedicated ports in the nearest State having a coastline. I raised the issue, though informally, at a meeting of Eastern States organised by the Planning Commission in Kolkata some time ago. I sincerely believe there should be a national debate on this to help the Centre take a decision.

What are the other issues you have taken up with the Centre?

I have urged the Centre to grant Bihar the Special Category status. We have an international border with Nepal. It deserves special attention. Also, there should be a national policy on the judicious allocation of natural resources. The reorganisation of States and the creation of Jharkhand have put Bihar in a difficult situation natural resources-wise. All the mineral-rich districts and major industries, both in private and public sectors, are now in Jharkhand. We now have 52 per cent of the area and 75 per cent of the population of the erstwhile Bihar.

But, unlike Jharkhand, you are free from problems such as the Maoist movement, are you not?

Not really. Today's Maoists in Jharkhand had their roots in districts now in Bihar. It would be wrong to presume that we have succeeded in eliminating them totally. But one thing is clear: A section of the Maoists in Bihar has been brought into the democratic process, with six CPI(ML) members elected to the State Legislative Assembly.

What about the law and order situation?

The Government has succeeded in sending across the message that no criminal will go scot-free. In the past year, we have disposed of 4,000 cases, 170 of them involving life imprisonment. The verdict in 1,000 cases was for 10-years imprisonment. Law and order is not a major issue now. But I want Union Government's assistance in another field.

What is that?

I want the Centre also to help the States in the matter of secondary education. There is the Centrally-sponsored Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan for primary education. Higher education has always received Central attention. But secondary education is left to the State. The Centre must come forward to help a State like Bihar, where there is no dearth of human resource but where the resources to transform the manpower into a skilled force are lacking.

The Government must do something to end the disparity in facilities available for secondary education. Quality education is available to only the handful who can afford it. This is unacceptable. Then there is the problem of dropouts. Something has to be done urgently, otherwise the regional imbalance will worsen.

The policy-makers in Delhi are talking of `inclusive growth' in the Eleventh Plan. What kind of growth can we hope to have in a situation of acute regional disparities? I am firmly convinced that the eastern States, so far labelled laggards, have a great future ahead of them, more so because the other regions have virtually reached a growth plateau. The eastern States need support to use their core competence to achieve concrete results.

(Picture by Ranjeet Kumar)