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Leaving no stone unturned to woo the voters of Bihar, the BJP-led government at the Centre, beginning November last year, has been announcing a blitz of infrastructure and other projects worth over ₹1 lakh crore for the State.
Bihar is set to witness Assembly polls in October.
From roads to oil & gas, power and fertilizer, almost every key infrastructure ministry has promised projects and investments to the State.
Amongst the big ticket investments announced are the ₹50,000-crore road projects that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways intends to develop over the next few years. The announcement was made by Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari in May.
While not giving specific timeframes for the investments, Gadkari also claimed that a water-port will be built on the banks of the Ganga in State capital Patna.
Mega packageThe Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry too has promised a mega-investment package for the State.
At the beginning of the year, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan, assured Bihar that ₹25,000 crore will be invested in the State’s oil & gas sector over five-six years.
A few months later work began on GAIL’s ₹3,957-crore Jagdishpur-Haldia pipeline project.
Bihar also had the eighth highest number of cities to be granted Central assistance under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month.
Among the very first sweeteners to be announced was a 4,000 MW ultra mega power project (UMPP) for the State by Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy, Piyush Goyal.
Work on the UMPP has started, with Power Finance Corporation creating a special purpose vehicle to enable the auctioning of the project.
The Power Ministry’s largest public sector unit NTPC also agreed to train 25,000 youth in the region over the next five years in partnership with the National Skill Development Corporation and National Skill Development Fund.
Will these grand announcements fructify if the BJP does not win the Bihar elections? That remains to be seen.
While some of the projects are already under way, the future of others may depend on the election results.
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