‘350 acres of land given to 60 industrial units in Bihar’

PATNA: The state government has allotted 350 acres of land to 60 industrial units in 2021-22 for setting up of industries, industry minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain said in the Vidhan Parishad on Wednesday. He also said the department will take back the land allotted by BIADA for setting up of industries, if the purpose is not fulfilled within the given time frame.
Hussain was replying to a question raised by RJD MLC Ram Chandra Purbey, who said several plots of land allotted for industrial purposes were lying unused for years together.Husssain said as per the land allotment policy, an industrialist is given 36 months time to set up industry and start commercial production. He said those who have failed to do so, have been given six months ultimatum, after which the land will be taken back. He further said of the 270 closed units, the allotment of 85 had been cancelled and their possession taken. “The land will then be allotted to new industrialists,” he said.
He said 350.52 acres of land had been allotted in 2021-22, which brought the investment of Rs3407.35 crore and initially generated employment opportunities for 6483 people.
Regarding the shortage of land for industries in Bihar, Hussain said the land of closed sugar mills will be used for the purpose. So far, 2442.41 acres of sugar mill land have been transferred to BIADA. A master plan of such land is being prepared and infrastructure will be developed there so that they can be used for setting up of industries.
MLC Maheshwar Singh raised the issue of lack of food processing plants in Muzaffarpur, East Champaran and Samastipur and said the litchi farmers were not getting the profitable rate. The minister said they had got several proposals under Bihar Udyogic Nivesh Protsahan Niti 2016 and 72 proposals for Muzaffarpur, 176 for Samastipur and 61 for Sitamarhi have got stage one clearance.
Another 17 proposals from East Champaran, 52 from Muzaffarpur, 11 from Samastipur and three from Sitamarhi have got financial incentive clearance. Of these, several industrial units have become functional, including 15 in East Champaran, 41 in Muzaffarpur, 9 in Samastipur and 2 in Sitamarhi. One industry in Muzaffarpur is related to litchi processing.