Bihar investor summit: 170 industry leaders show interest to invest in the state

Bihar hosted an investor summit in the national capital, after a gap of over 15 years. Industry representatives from 170 companies including ITC Limited, Hindustan Unilever, Adani Group, Britannia, Coca Cola, Pepsi and Ambuja Cement attended the summit and showed keen interest to invest in the state.

Ambuja Cements Ltd, which is a part of Swiss building material firm Holcim group (earlier LafargeHolcim), has proposed to set up a unit at Barh at an estimated cost of Rs 1,200 crore.

An announcement to this effect was made by Neeraj Akhouri, CEO of Ambuja Cement. “Ambuja cement is committed to setting up a 5-million-tonne capacity plant at Barh in Bihar,” he said.

The state currently has around 12 million tonnes of installed production capacity for cement and another 6 million tonnes is expected to be added in the next three years.

Several other leading companies including Adani Group, ITC Limited, Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), , Britannia Industries, Usha Martin and Larsen & Toubro have also shown interest to invest in the state.

“It is a historic day for not only Bihar but also for the nation. It is the first time since 2006 that we are doing an investment meet at such level. The gathering in the meeting is a testimony of confidence in Bihar,” Bihar Industry Minister Shahnawaz Hussain said while addressing a press conference. 

Hussain said the state has one of the largest land banks in the country and it is developing great infrastructure and business-friendly policies. He expressed confidence that Bihar will soon be counted among the top five states in single-window clearance and ease of doing business.

“I remember that once, there was immense lack of infra in Bihar. Like our Prime Minister Narendra Modi developed Gujarat from the disaster of earthquake, our Chief Minister Nitish Kumar developed power to roads, everything from scratch,” he said.

The minister elaborated on the progress made in Bihar in the development of infrastructure.

“We have created the first Ethanol policy in the state, we also have huge corn production and abundant water. Hence, more than 17 ethanol plants have been approved in the state,” he said. 

“Bihar is not only doing small things, it is doing mega things. Mega food park is allotted to Bihar, Mega logistic park and Mega textile park is being developed in Bihar. Once we have the leather policy ready, we will soon bid for mega leather park in the state. I further assure that every industry will get good business conditions in Bihar. We have fulfilled all the commitment that we have made to the industry,” he added.

Earlier speaking on the occasion, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tarkishore Prasad expressed his gratitude towards the industry champions who gathered in the event in huge numbers. “Until 2004 our budget was about Rs 25,000 crore. In 2022-23 it has become Rs 2.37 lakh crore. Earlier, we were just the consumption state, today we have transformed into production state,” Prasad said.

Speaking on the occasion, managing director of Adani Enterprises, Pranav Adani, praised the efforts for making Bihar an investment destination. “Very soon we will send a delegation to Bihar to explore the possibilities,” he said.