Bihar takes first steps to take-off

• 265% is the rise in corporate tax collection in the Patna circle alone, according to Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT)

• Reliance, Tata and Oil PSUs are in the queue to take over Bihar’s state-owned sugar mills to develop alternate fuel

• $225 million is the loan sanctioned by World Bank to boost economic growth in Bihar

The foundation is slowly falling into place, and if it holds together into the next new year, the state that has long been held up as a mirror to what’s wrong with the country will soon be ready for a dramatic makeover. In infrastructure, public health, tax revenue and most significantly, agriculture.

“Fifteen years into India’s economic reforms, the country’s poorest state Bihar, is finally gearing itself to catch up with rest of India. A slew of fiscal and legislative reforms implemented in the recent past stand testimony to this silent transformation taking place in a state that has, for long, been stereotyped as a failed state,” says a recent study by World Bank.

The reasons for Bihar’s changing face are many, say experts and officials. “Legislative backing to most of the reforms has also boosted investor confidence... Major international donor agencies are thus gearing up to contribute to the state’s development,” says the World Bank report.

But according to Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi, whose NDA Government under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar took over last year, the first big step was the collective decision to delegate power from top down. “It is yielding huge results,” says Modi.

The most tangible growth has been in the agriculture growth rate. According to the PAU study, this has hinged on vegetables and fruits, apart from traditional crops. This highlights the fact that Bihar’s farmers are beginning to wake up to the commercial prospects in the sector.

Here, an unexpected boost has come from the Centre’s green signal to promote new forms of bio-fuel, especially in blending sugar-generated ethanol and petrol. The result: Hindustan Petroleum, India Glycols and Birla Sugar have touched base with the government on taking over closed sugar mills on lease. “Bihar is sure to emerge as an ethanol hub,” says Sugarcane Minister Nitish Mishra.

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