Bettiah: Once celebrated as Bihar’s model of innovation and entrepreneurship during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chanpatia Startup Hub in West Champaran now lies in ruins. What began as a shining example of migrant workers turning into entrepreneurs has, within five years, turned into a story of closures, debt, and despair.
The Birth of a Dream
In 2020, when migrant workers returned home from across India and abroad due to the coronavirus lockdown, Bettiah’s then District Magistrate Kundan Kumar initiated an experiment. He conducted skill-mapping of returnees—many of whom had expertise in garments, embroidery, and export work—and transformed the abandoned land of the local market committee into the state’s first “Startup Zone.”
With government support and loans under the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Program (PMEGP), 57 factories were set up. At its peak, the Startup Hub employed nearly 7,000 workers. Trucks lined the streets, carrying goods to markets across India and even to Malaysia, Thailand, and Cambodia.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar himself inaugurated the zone in December 2020, hailing it as a model that would “set an example for the entire country.”
Stories of Struggle
Today, that dream stands shattered. More than 50 of the 57 factories have shut down. Owners are burdened with loans, machinery lies rusting, and warehouses remain locked.
Among those affected is Ayub Ansari, who once employed 100 workers in his jeans manufacturing unit. After his business slowed down and his bank loan of ₹22 lakh spiraled out of control, Ayub faced the threat of auction on his factory and home. “I felt like dying. I was about to hang myself at the factory gate, but my family stopped me,” he says.
Another entrepreneur, Amil Hussain, left a stable job in Dubai to start a factory in Chanpatia with a ₹20 lakh loan. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had assured him of support, even telling him, “Don’t go back to Dubai.” But delays in machinery delivery, mounting EMIs, and lack of working capital pushed his factory into closure. “Today I don’t even have money to pay my children’s fees,” Amil says, recalling how he even underwent treatment for depression.
Saddam Hussain, an engineer with a Japanese company in Mumbai, invested ₹9.5 lakh in a unit here. Despite government promises of financial and land assistance made during the Chief Minister’s Pragati Yatra in 2024, he says no relief has arrived. “We’re not asking for new machinery, just working capital for production,” Saddam explains. His factory too is on the verge of collapse.
Ramesh, who once employed over 100 workers, now runs his unit with only five. “The government talks big, but on the ground, nothing has been delivered. My children’s future is at stake,” he laments.
For workers, the struggle is even harsher. “If there is work, we get paid. Otherwise, we don’t,” says Saheb Prasad, who works in a saree factory. “Some days there’s no thread, some days no cloth. We go to the factory daily but don’t earn daily.”
Government and Political Responses
The Chanpatia Startup Hub has also become a political flashpoint ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections. The BJP, which has held the Chanpatia seat since 2000, faces criticism as local MLA Umakant Singh defends the government. “Businessmen also have a responsibility. Some misused the loans and now cannot repay them. The government provided land, electricity, and loans. But government money alone cannot do everything,” he says.
Opposition leaders disagree. RJD MLC Engineer Saurabh argues that the government failed to keep its promises of subsidies and GST waivers. “Goods became costlier than those from Punjab and Haryana. Without subsidies, mass production wasn’t possible. Today, 90% of companies have shut down because of government negligence,” he asserts.
A Promise Lost
Once a bustling hub of 400 machines and 7,000 workers, Chanpatia today resembles a ghost town. The same factories that brought hope during the pandemic now echo with silence. For many entrepreneurs and workers, the Startup Hub represents both the promise of a new Bihar and the painful reality of unfulfilled commitments.
As Bihar heads into elections again, the ruins of Chanpatia stand as a stark reminder: without sustained support, even the brightest of experiments can collapse into despair.
