If Bihar Wishes to Come in Big League

by Indra

March 15, 2006

The news - 'a business delegation from Ukraine on Wednesday met Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and expressed interest in setting up micro hydel power projects in the state'- is welcome. However, a clear roadmap and priority requires listing and made known to the people of Bihar. Some that I have thought of are as follows:

Energy:

Bihar must aim for increasing the generation capacity to become a power surplus state. It can't think of coming in the league of other states without sufficient and then surplus power. All investment as well as entrepreneurship of even smaller people depend on power.

I suggest that the state employs some respected consultant such as McKinsey to prepare feasibility study and a road map to become a developed state. If a state like Bengal can do that, why can't Bihar with a technocrat as its Chief Minister?

With large number of rivers in North Bihar, the hydel power generation through small, medium, and large multipurpose projects must be a possibility that has been neglected over the last 58 years. Some retired technocrat with good record from NHPC can be of assistance.

Bihar must also collaborate with Jharkhand for setting up one or two mega thermal power stations at location nearest to the coal pits linked by an efficient transportation system.

Why can't a nuclear plant be located somewhere in North Bihar? Strategically, it should be acceptable to NPFC and the central government.

Simultaneously, an effort for non-traditional means of energy- solar, wind, biomass, ethanol, and bio-diesel- all around the state requires serious planning and actions.

Bihar must not keep on looking to the center and take excuse. It must take lessons from Bengal. Bengal, at one time, went on its own for the thermal power plant at Bakreswar, and did also come up with Haldia Project, when the government at the center was not conducive.

New Urban Centres:

Bihar must plan for new urban centers near its key cities on the two expressways - GQ and E-W Corridors that are passing through Bihar. On the line of ITC's Choupal Sagar in Madhya Pradesh, the state must encourage reputed entrepreneurs to develop the rural business hubs on the expressways and highways in sufficient numbers. The centers can also have engineering and other professional colleges, Knowledge Parks and even SEZs along with well-planned commercial and residential complexes.

Knowledge Hubs with KPO and BPO:

Knowledge sector is going to be India's strength and will provide maximum employment to the educated population. Bihar state must be open to private universities as other states have done and enact legislation accordingly. The government must be proactive, compete with other states and allure all those who are interested in setting up world class educational institutes. Bihar must produce at least one lakh professionals every year. I suggest to have all schools affiliated to CBSE courses to wind up state high school and higher secondary or other education boards or body for conducting entrance examinations for professional colleges, cutting down all the non-value adding employees. Every district quarter must have an education hub with at least 20 higher secondary schools, at least one engineering college, and five ITIs.

Why can't Bihar think of its pie in IT, BPO, and KPO? The Indian IT/ITES market will be worth $62 billion in 2009 and $148 billion by 2012. It requires availability of well-educated young work force. It requires the workforce at cheaper cost. It requires the workforce to stick to the job for longer stint. Can't the government in Patna do it, if the governments at Jaipur, Chandigarh, and Bhuwaneswar can do it? If a small place such as Kota has an IT park across seven acres of land equipped with all necessary facilities, why can't Bhagalpur and Muzaffarpur have it? If Andhra Pradesh can have 280 engineering colleges with 80,000 seats, how can Bihar think to compete with just 2000 or less seats?

Business Clusters:

A number of clusters must come up for different businesses. For example, one cluster, somewhere in North Bihar, may have sugarcane-based industries such as ethanol distillery, alcohol, and candies with power plant based on sugar cane wastes. Another cluster may be based on petroleum and located near Barauni, as West Bengal got it at Haldia or Reliance is having it at Jamnagar. While an engineering cluster can come up near Jamalpur, Bhagalpur may have a silk-based cluster, and Bodh Gaya may be the attractive enough center for tourism - a cultural capital and link of India with the whole of Asia - starting from Thailand to South Korea and Japan. Madhubani can be the center for the village crafts. Muzaffarpur can be the center for the fruit processing with mangoes and lichies in plenty and Biharsharif can be the processing center for vegetables with its rich and fertile land. Nokha with rice producing hinterland in Rohtas can become easily a center for all rice-based industries. Munger can come up a yoga hub.

Public Relations and Liaison:

The government's relation with the government at the center and the people of eminence in industry, who can matter for the benefit of Bihar, will be critical. The government must attract ITC and other companies interested in rural development. ITC's e- choupal is a proven model. The government must take all the enterprises interested and engaged in rural development in confidence and invite them to work in Bihar.

Ministers and Bureaucrats! Invite the President to talk with the teachers, legislators, and bureaucrats of the state.

Invite teams of CIIs and other industry-based associations to have their conferences in the state.

Be on a look out of the MNCs such as Microsoft, Intel, IBM, or Apple that are putting up educational institutes in India.

Invite the Indian entrepreneurs such as Anil Agrawal's Vedanta (setting up an International School at the cost of $1 billion) or for that matter anyone who wishes to set up educational institutes of global standards.

Try to get all the work allocated as the state's share of 'Bharat Nirman' and other centrally financed programmes such as Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, Mid-day Meal Scheme, Rajiv Gandhi Drinking Water Mission, Total Sanitation Campaign, National Rural Health Mission, Integrated Child Development Services, National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, completed. Have the best possible liaison with the center for different central government projects such as rural tourism projects, AIMS scale hospitals, or IISc type institutes.

Emulate already successful business and governance models from other states, such as e-governance SEWA (state wide area network) from Andhra and Karnataka's Boom project for on-line delivery of land records to the citizens. If Orissa can, why can't Bihar?

You can do it. Please put Bihar on a path of irreversible growth.

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