Bihar approves investments worth 10 bn; hiccups remain

The Bihar government has approved investment proposals worth over Rs 40,000 crore 10 billion...

The Bihar government has approved investment proposals worth over Rs 40,000 crore 10 billion, including many by big corporate entities, but there are still hurdles like poor infrastructure and land acquisition, according to the state8217;s latest economic survey. Although big firms have evinced interest in investing in the state with 115 proposals worth Rs 40,720 crore okayed by the State Investment Promotion Board, there are hiccups like land acquisition and poor infrastructure in terms of power and communication, the survey said.

Industrial sickness is another major problem as out of 26 large and medium units, 35 are closed. In the SSI sector, however, out of 72,600 units, 52,000 are functional.

According to the survey, the small scale industries are making a big contribution to Bihar8217;s economic upsurge, apparently more than big and medium industries. Acknowledging the great role of SSIs in propping up Bihar8217;s economic stride, the survey said, 8220;The share of tiny industrial units among SSIs, both registered and unregistered, is as high as 99 per cent.8221;

On the performance of large and medium-based industries vis-a-vis SSIs, it said there are only 262 large and medium units in the state with concentration only in pockets of Patna, Tirhut and Magadh divisions. SSI units, on the other hand, have a higher visibility and 8220;small/ artisan-based industries8221; are spread across the state generating 5.5 lakh man-days in the current fiscal till December, it noted.

The findings indicate that the state government should give more thrust to SSI sector, providing facilities and tax sops to boost industrial production, said an expert. The survey said, although Bihar has been able to generate good revenues from litchi exports last year, the performance of agro-based units has not been impressive.

8220;There is, however, a big potential in agro-based industry,8221; it added. Interestingly, unregistered units dominate the export sector in the state. Of the 1,675 export units functional, only 86 are registered.