Posted: 22 Mar 2011 07:52 AM PDT

In the fifth edition of 'Samriddhi', organised by Business Standard, the Bihar government and the business people of the state came together to make the land of Lord Buddha, the high seat of learning in the past, one of the most developed in the country in the next few years.

Bihar is poised to be the next biggest attraction for industries in the country. With a growth rate of above 10 per cent, today major national and international companies are making a beeline to enter Bihar. Local entrepreneurs and the state government are also more than happy to welcome them to the state.

In the fifth edition of 'Samriddhi', an event organised by Business Standard Hindi daily, businessmen and the government seemed to be united to make Bihar a developed state in the next few years. The chief guest of the event Chief Minister Nitish Kumar gave many useful advices to make that possible. "Local entrepreneurs hold the key for development. They have to make the first move. Then only outsiders will come to the state with investment," said the chief minister. He added: "Until they are assured about stable development, big business houses will remain shy."

Speaking about the law and order situation in the state, he said: "When we took the reins of the state, our first priority was the basic law and order situation. We took out the fear from the mind of the common man. There was never a drought of money in Bihar. There were businesses and people used to earn good also," said Nitish Kumar. "However, lack of security and poor law and order situation was a problem. Businessmen migrated from the state. We tackled this problem and provided them proper security. Now, they can spend money at their will. You will find numerous expensive cars on the roads of Bihar. Earlier, buying Maruti 800 was such a big problem. Today, nobody who has money thinks twice before buying a Toyota SUV. The situation has changed. Now people want to come back to Bihar. Investors are searching for new avenues to invest here."

The chief minister also said: "We have also started to invest heavily on roads. No nation and state can develop without good network of roads. Everybody needs a good road. Good network of roads ensure fast human development. Children can go to school and patients can get better treatment. Farmers can get better money for their produce and traders can quickly send their goods to the market. The situation of roads is improving in the state. What was earlier a ride on the humps of a camel, now is as smooth as silk." "We even invested more than Rs 1,000 crore on development of national highways. This is not the domain of the state government, but still we did it. We wanted an improved standard of living for our people. So we did it," said Kumar.

He said: "Today, people are talking about the development of Bihar. We do not want to take the credit. We just did and are doing our work. Actual work was done by the people of Bihar who voted for us. People of Bihar should be congratulated for the change. We are doing what we have been chosen to do." The business community of the state fully backed their leader for his development agenda. "The business community is firmly standing behind the state government in its development agenda. We are ready to put all our efforts in the development of Bihar. What makes a state or nation developed? Good government and clear path of development. Today Bihar has both of them. So, nobody can stop it now," said Bihar Chamber of Commerce President O P Sah.

On the other hand, ex-president of Bihar Industries Association K P Jhunjhunwala said: "A few years back A P J Abdul Kalam visited the state. During his visit he gave the idea of Vision 2015. He called upon us to make Bihar a developed state by 2015. For that, he emphasised on three sectors — agriculture and agro industries, tourism and human resource development. I, too, think these three sectors will open up new avenues of growth for Bihar."

However, C K Mishra, Principal Secretary to the Industries Department, thinks the SME sector is going to be the key for the development of the state. He said: "We have to focus on what we have. Take the example of the food processing sector. We have almost infinite possibilities in this sector. Even today, almost 60 per cent of the population of the state is dependent on agriculture. We are the largest producer of vegetables and second largest producer of fruits. If this sector grows, there is a good possibility that development can reach to the last person in the state."

Jeevandas Narayan does not fully back the comments of Mishra. The chief general manager (Bihar-Jharkhand) of State Bank of India said: "Nobody can deny the role of SMEs in development, but we have to focus on big companies too. We have to make them invest in Bihar. They will bring the real economic development with them. They will invest heavily and it can provide hundreds of thousands of jobs. They can bring in many of their supporting units and competitors too. So, it is essential for Bihar to attract the big guns."

One of the B-schools in the state, IIBM's managing director U K Singh emphasised the need for development of Information Technology in Bihar. He said: "Our boys are making it big in the world of information technology. To attract the big companies, we have to attract our kids to Bihar. Only then IT/ITeS companies will come to Bihar."

"We are ready for this sector. We are developing an IT Park in Bihta, near Patna. Infosys is going to open up an incubation centre in that park. However, discussions are still on in this sector. So, I cannot divulge anything more about it," said Mishra.

Everybody in the panel demanded more support from the central government for the development of Bihar. Sah said: "We desperately need electricity. Right now we are getting not more than 800-900 Mw from the central pool, which is much less than our requirement of 3,500 Mw. For faster development, we also need special category state status from the central government. Only then big money would start to follow."

Nitish Kumar lambasted the Centre for not providing adequate support in the development of Bihar.

"We could have done a much better job, had the Centre supported us. Last year, during the assembly elections, minister from the central government were saying about providing coal blocks. It makes no sense. If somebody is hungry, you cannot give him a land lease. He will need food. We do want coal blocks, but first our priority is coal linkage. Then only we can produce power for our state. Apart from it, we also want New Delhi's nod on ethanol production. It is not making any progress. This would have attracted investors, but we are stuck in the process."

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SEIAA set up to clear industrial projects in Bihar

Posted: 22 Mar 2011 03:49 AM PDT

Patna, Mar 21 (PTI) The Bihar government has set up the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) to clear various projects for industrial development and the notification has already been issued, Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi said today. A state expert appraisal committee(SEAC) has been set up under SEIAA by the Centre on the recommendation of the state government to evaluate the impact of industries on the environment.The constitution of SEIAA nad SEAC will help fasttrack the industrial activities in the state by given necessary clearances to the developers in the state locally, Modi said. Ramesh Chandra Sinha has been made the Chairman of the SEIAA, while Ravindra Kumar Sinha will be a member. The advisor of the Environment and Forest department will be its member-secretary, he added.

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BCC to organise Bihar Gaurav Rally

Posted: 21 Mar 2011 11:50 PM PDT

PATNA: The Bihar Chamber of Commerce ( BCC) will organise Bihar Gaurav Rally at 7 am on March 24 from Malsalami to Manoj Kamalia stadium near Mangal Talab in Patna City.

A decision in this regard was taken at a recent meeting attended by the road construction ministerNand Kishore Yadav, Chamber president O P Sah, Govind Kanodia and other citizens of Patna City. The event would be a colourful one with installation of gates in different localities in Patna City and display of colourful rally flags. Tableaus depicting features of Bihar would also be on display, a press release added, stating that a 21-member committee has been constituted to make the programme a success.

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Gates Couple to visit Bihar soon

Posted: 21 Mar 2011 07:46 PM PDT

Bill and Melinda Gates, co-chairs of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, visit the country this week to meet policy-makers, non-government partners, business and community leaders, and public-health figures to explore ways to build on achievements in health and development and tackle the still prevalent and significant burden of disease.

The challenges and achievements to be highlighted by them will include the eradication of polio, the development and delivery of life-saving vaccines, improved health outcomes for mothers, children and newborns, and innovative approaches to counter the scourge of tuberculosis through public-private partnerships.

India’s success with polio, with a 95-per-cent reduction from 741 in 2009 to 42 last year, is just one example of its commitment to improve the lives of the poorest. "I believe there is an excellent chance India will be polio-free very soon," said Mr. Gates.

India’s efforts to halt polio transmission among high-risk migrant populations such as brick-kiln workers are critical to achieving this goal. Concerns still remain in West Bengal, where an outbreak has persisted for over 12 months. "If there is polio anywhere, we are at risk of polio everywhere," Mr. Gates said. "We encourage India to continue fully funding its own polio program to stop transmission once and for all."

Another priority would be to urge the Indian government to intensify its progress on vaccination of children. Last year, the couple had called on the global community to help make this the Decade of Vaccines.

It is estimated that pneumonia accounts for 20 per cent of the 1.83 million child deaths in the country each year. Scaling up routine immunisation and access to newer vaccines, such as for measles and certain types of diarrhoea and pneumonia, could prevent hundreds of thousands of childhood deaths in India. A wider introduction of the pentavalent vaccine into routine childhood immunisation efforts would ensure protection against some of the deadliest diseases that children under five are at risk from.

File photo of Bill and Melinda Gates

The couple will go to Bihar and visit community health workers and State officials to view, first-hand, the launch of a five-year grant of $80 million made in partnership with the State government and leading Indian and international NGOs. They will see the challenges of maternal and child malnutrition, the benefits of working with private-sector health providers, and the need to develop and deliver new technologies to solve old problems. Bihar’s maternal mortality rate and other related indicators are among the highest in India.

During their trip to Bihar, the couple will also visit The Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), which aims to help millions of Indian farmers substantially boost crop yields and incomes within ten years.

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Bihar Day Celebrations

Posted: 20 Mar 2011 08:55 PM PDT

Stage is all set for Bihar Day celebrations all over the world on March 22nd, 2011. Biharis over the world are joining the celebrations with great fanfare and pride. Bihar foundation and various Bihar related groups and associations have joined hands for the occasion across different countries and regions. The team is hosting various cultural and community gets together events to mark this momentous day. Bihar day marks the creation of the state when the British carved Bihar out of the Bengal presidency March 22, 1912. Read more about the history of Bihar's creation here.

This year, Bihar Divas is being organized to mark the 99th anniversary of independent statehood of Bihar. The festival this year will be organized at a grander scale, as the state will be entering its 100th year. The HRD department will felicitate important persons who have created a niche for themselves in different fields. Grand festivities are in store for Patnaites on the occasion of Bihar Diwas celebrations set to begin on March 22.

These will kick off year-long celebrations that will culminate in 2012 Bihar Diwas centenary functions. A three-day extravaganza, including cultural and academic events, will also be held at Moinul Haq Stadium in Patna. An air show could also be organized and talks were on with the Air Force for the same.The three-day cultural extravaganza at Gandhi Maidan promises to be a musical treat with pure Bihari regional flavour, including Maithili, Bhojpuri, Magahi and Angika folk songs apart from classical songs, 'qawwalis' and kavi sammelans.

Bihar based associations in California, New Jersey in the US, Sydney in Australia, Seoul in South Korea, Qatar and Bahrain in the Gulf, besides Canada and Trinidad are the countries which will observe Bihar Day with pomp and grandeur. You can also enjoy the live show of Bihar Day celebrations here.

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