Patna: Investment proposals worth more than $1bn were discussed as Bihar’s chief secretary, Pratyaya Amrit, chaired a high-level strategic meeting with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Monday to explore wide-ranging development partnerships across key sectors.
Senior officials from the finance, education, water resources, agriculture, urban development and housing, civil aviation, road construction, industries, tourism, and youth employment and skill development departments attended the meeting.
Welcoming the ADB delegation, the Chief Secretary said Bihar was poised to make a significant leap in critical areas of its economy and infrastructure. He underlined that collaboration with ADB would be highly beneficial and assured the delegation that the proposals would be examined promptly, with the government reverting with an action plan soon.
During the meeting, ADB’s country director for India, Mio Oka, delivered a detailed presentation outlining proposed areas of partnership. Key projects discussed included:
- Comprehensive Buddhist Circuit Development
- Water Resources and Agriculture Transformation Project
- Comprehensive Skill Development Project
- Urban Infrastructure and Resilience Project for select cities
- Energy sector initiatives, including expansion of renewable energy, strengthening grid integration and development of a future-ready distribution grid
- Bihar Health and Medical Education Transformation Project
Beyond traditional infrastructure initiatives, several forward-looking ideas were also placed on the table. These included MSME development in Bihar with a focus on women; improving competitiveness and logistics in the manufacturing sector; strengthening the Public Financial Management Programme, including comprehensive support for public-private partnership (PPP) development; and bridging the school readiness gap to strengthen the foundations of school education in the state.
The proposed partnership framework also considers strengthening Bihar’s manufacturing and logistics ecosystem through integrated clusters in Gayaji and Muzaffarpur. Public financial management reforms aimed at improving capital expenditure efficiency and enhancing revenue collection were also discussed.
During the session, representatives said ADB’s strategic engagement with Bihar was designed to deliver high-impact, multi-sectoral solutions. “By combining global expertise with concessional capital, we aim to accelerate Bihar’s transformation into a high-productivity and innovation-driven economy,” they said.
Officials described the meeting as a significant step towards elevating Bihar’s development trajectory and ensuring sustainable economic progress across sectors.
