The Bihar Cabinet approved the reduction of the rate of BIADA units by 80 per cent for 15 units, 60 per cent and 40 per cent for 12 units each and 20 per cent for 15 units.
Santosh Singh, Patna:The Bihar Government has decided to give a rebate of up to 80 per cent on the lease of land under the Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority (BIADA) to promote investment in the state.
During a meeting, the Bihar Cabinet Tuesday approved the decision for 54 units, including 15 industrial units, under BIADA. BIADA leases land to investors for a specified period of time at a lower rate than that of the market and even circle (government) rates.
As per the Bihar Cabinet decision, the rate of BIADA units has been slashed by 80 per cent for 15 units, 60 per cent and 40 per cent for 12 units each and 20 per cent for 15 units. These industrial units are spread across the state in the Gopalganj, Aurangabad, Rohtas, Buxar, Gaya, Munger, Nalanda, Saharsa, West Champaran, Bhojpur, Jehanabad, Patna, Madhubani, Katihar, Siwan, Bhagalpur, Kishanganj, Khagaria, Sitamarhi, Bhojpur, Nawada, Lakhisarai, Darbhanga, Jehanabad, and Patna districts.
The government land rates vary from Rs 42 lakh per acre to Rs 1325 lakh per acre before being slashed.
Bihar industry minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain told The Indian Express: “We have plenty of BIADA land across the state. While some industrial unit lands have good access to roads, some are less developed and a few others need to be developed. Why should investors be interested in taking our land if it does not have an affordable price? We broke the barrier of minimum government cost by identifying 54 industrial units and decided to slash the cost”.
The industry minister, who has been travelling across states to attract investment and recently held investors’ meets in Delhi and Kolkata, added that land availability used to be the biggest bottleneck for investment. “With good roads and electricity supply, investors have been showing keen interest in Bihar now,” said the minister adding that they still had a tough job on hand to realise upcoming investments including in food processing and agro-based industries.
In the last six months, Bihar’s industry department has received over 200 proposals for investment in ethanol production, textile, and other fields. The new textile policy also aims to overhaul the textile industry, including Bhagalpur’s silk industry.
The recent opening of one of the biggest bottling plants by Pepsico in Begusarai worth Rs 500 crore on leased BIADA land has been the biggest investment received during the current regime of Nitish Kumar.
Bihar has also seen heavy investment in ethanol production that could ensure the fair cost of maize to farmers of 18 maize-producing districts. While the first greenfield ethanol plant in India started in Purnea this April, 16 more such plants have been coming up.
In the last 19 years of Nitish Kumar-led NDA rule, no major investment came through even though 377 units came up between 2016-17 and 2022-23. In 2017-18, Bihar had received investments worth Rs 331.95 crore that went up to Rs 551.44 crore in 2021-22.
