E-Paper
Building Industry
Agro-based industries, along with leather, sugar, silk and yarn enterprises are viable options.Readers' Views
Based on readers' suggestions and talks with sociologists and politicians, HindustanTimes.com explores how to reinvigorate Bihar's sick industry.
What the politicians say
With the loss of Jharkhand, steel and steel-based industries are no longer an option. To revive industry, Bihar should first concentrate on becoming self-sufficient in power. Transportation, particularly railways, also needs to improve. Government should seek private investment pro-actively.
What sociologists say
Agro-based industry is Bihar's biggest hope. Lichis and mangoes are the pride of Bihar. There are several other fruits and vegetables grown on its fertile plains which can be preserved, packed and exported.
What the common man says
Build infrastructure. Industry needs roads and electricity. Focus on reviving ailing industries like sugar and silk. Invite private investment through tax holidays, and streamline bureaucracy to allow faster clearance of projects. The Centre also needs to invest more.
But provide security before everything else. Guarantee that industrialists won't be looted, and their kin won't be kidnapped.
Jharkhand's loss has severely hurt Bihar's potential for industrial development. Steel Minister Ramvilas Paswan told HindustanTimes.com that Bihar was not likely to get a steel plant now that the iron ore mines were no longer its own.
Earlier suggestions for development included the setting up of industries based on coke oven by-products, but with all the steel plants going to Jharkhand, this too is no longer a possibility.
Salvaging the PSUs
But there are other options. The first step should be to pull existing industries, including public sector undertakings, out of the morass they have sunk into because of long-standing mismanagement and financial imprudence.
The government must introduce new management techniques, upgrade technology and compare the working of PSUs with those in more successful states as well as internationally. Privatisation of sick units can also be an option, though not without ensuring the security of their workforce.
