Rs 12,000 crore investment proposals get govt nod since 2016: Minister

PATNA: Industries minister Jai Kumar Singh on Monday said the state emerged as a favourable destination for industrial units and investors after the government unveiled its Industrial Investment Promotion Policy in 2016 to address the bottlenecks in the industrial development of the state.
“The State Investment Promotion Board (SIPB) has approved investment proposals worth over Rs 12,000 crore since 2016.The state is now on the path of industrial development and the department of industries will address each and every obstacle in this regard,” the minister said while addressing a state level entrepreneurs’ summit at Adhiveshan Bhavan here.
More than 100 entrepreneurs, who have received first stage clearance by the industries department, were present at the summit. “The department has taken the initiative of providing clearances within 30 days to those interested in setting up their industrial units in the state,” Singh said.
Principal secretary (industries) S Siddharth said 880 investment proposals worth Rs 12,265.96 crore have so far been approved by SIPB.
Altogether 428 proposals have been received in food processing sector alone with a prospective investment of over Rs 2,000 crore. The manufacturing sector has received 97 proposals worth over Rs 364 crore.
Siddharth said according to the feedbacks received from the entrepreneurs, delay in getting bank loans, land hurdle and poor electricity supply are some of the issues which needed attention. “The single-window clearance system has been operational in the state since January 2018. Multiple clearances under this system save time and energy for prospective investors,” Siddharth added.
He said the industries department was in touch with the urban development department to amend the Bihar Agriculture Land (Conversion for Non Agriculture Purposes) Rules, 2011 which aims to allow small industries to set up their industrial units in the notified industrial areas in Patna.