Happy New Year 2011

Happy New Year 2011

Nitish Kumar: runaway winner as person of the year !!

In the season of scams when political reputations are at their lowest ebb, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar stands out as a remarkable exception. His emergence as a front-runner in a field crowded with seemingly redoubtable figures like Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Narendra Modi, Naveen Patnaik, Rahul Gandhi, et al, is all the more noteworthy because of his quiet, unassuming persona.

Yet, by winning a resounding electoral mandate, he has been unequivocally hailed by vox populi as their choice as the person of the year.

The extraordinariness of Nitish Kumar's feat is demonstrated by the unbelievable turnaround that he has brought about in Bihar's social and economic scene. Needless to say, his political success is based on this transformation.

The result is that he has proved beyond all doubt that if a politician uses the official and political power in his hands for the betterment of ordinary people's lives, he becomes virtually unbeatable.

India will be a much improved country if this simple lesson provided by Nitish Kumar is widely emulated. And at no time is there a greater need for such emphasis on the fundamental requirements of the people than in the present murky atmosphere when, as Sonia Gandhi has said, the country's 'moral universe' has shrunk.

Except, perhaps, in Bihar where the incarceration of 40,000 criminals and anti-socials, and the fall in the number of abductions from 1,390 to 315, have largely restored the common man's faith in the administration's clout and goodwill. In a country where the parties are not averse to employing goons as cadres, the chief minister has shown that he means business.

As a result, there has been a 45 percent surge in automobile sales because people are no longer afraid of travelling alone and with women and children. Besides, they can afford to remain out after nightfall unlike in the past when the roads became deserted and the haunts of criminals.

But it isn't the improved law and order situation alone which has encouraged greater outdoor excursions. There has also been a vast improvement in the condition of roads with the restoration and construction of nearly 7,000 km of highways and 1,500 bridges, including 300 elevated ones.

Much of this work was done by a public sector undertaking, which was able to overcome its earlier deficit of Rs.17 crore to contribute Rs.20 crore for relief to the Kosi flood victims. But no less noteworthy than its good work was the subsequent promotion of a young officer in its charge to a larger road construction department, which underlined the chief minister's ability to spot and reward talented bureaucrats.

At the same time, he has been ruthless in the matter of initiating action against officials found guilty of corrupt practices by fast-track courts and housing schools in their confiscated properties.

Since these measures have improved the investment climate, it is not surprising that Bihar's current growth rate of 11.3 percent has become comparable to Gujarat's. For the present, however, this upward trend can be ascribed to the fact that shops and commercial establishments can remain open till late at night, which was not possible during the days of the so-called 'jungle raj'.

The phrase was earlier derided as political hyperbole, but not after the return of normalcy in daily life.

Apart from law and order, Nitish Kumar has focussed on the education sector with the employment of 235,000 teachers at the primary and secondary levels to reduce the teacher-student ratio from the present dismal 1:73. The provision of uniforms and cycles to girls has also been an attractive feature of his policies.

The chief minister has now turned his attention to higher education with his proposal to set up the Nalanda university to recall its glorious heritage. For this purpose, he has selected Amartya Sen and A.P.J. Abdul Kalam as patrons. His allocation of 250 acres to Aligarh Muslim University has been seen as a step to appease the minorities, but by now his reputation among the Muslims is secure enough to preclude such obvious palliatives.

His success in winning the support of the Muslims despite having the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as a partner is based on a no-nonsense approach to communal relations where he hasn't allowed his ally any leeway at all. In this respect, Nitish Kumar has shown how stern he is compared to Naveen Patnaik, who looked on helplessly as the anti-Christian riots fuelled by the saffron camp raged in Orissa in 2008, compelling him to snap ties with the BJP.

In contrast, Nitish Kumar showed the firm, uncompromising side of his character when he refused to let Narendra Modi and Varun Gandhi, with their less than favourable image among the Muslims, to set foot in Bihar even to campaign for their own party, the BJP.

Nitish Kumar's success via these steps in weaning sizeable sections of the Muslims from Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress undoubtedly contributed to his electoral triumph, as did his reaching out to the so-called Mahadalits to undercut the support base of Ramvilas Paswan's Lok Janashakti Party (LJP) among the Dalits.

Read more: Nitish Kumar: runaway winner as person of the year

Mono-Rail for Patna soon !!

In a press conference called by Urban Development minister Prem Kumar, he announced setting up of a project soon to begin work on mono-rail. In the beginning there will be four scuh routes- one from Patna Junction to Gandhi Maidan, second from Patne Junction to Partliputra colony, third from Patna Junction to Airport and fourth from Patna Junction to Kankarbagh.

The cost of metro per kilometer is Rs 225 crores while it is only Rs 31 crore for mono-rail. Also the time required for the completion of metro project is 10 years while it is mere 2.5 years in case of mono-rail.

It is expected to carry 32 thousand people in one round thus easing the grave situation of the traffic in Patna. Larsen and Tourbo has already submitted a proposal on which the state government has to take final call. The Minister assured that the work on the project will commence soon.

Source Mono-Rail for Patna soon

Trade associations to hold investmarts

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), Bihar Chambers of Commerce (BCC) and Bihar Industries Association (BIA) have decided to hold three investmarts in Patna in 2011, 2013 and 2015 in association with the state government to attract industrial investment of about Rs 4 lakh crore over the next five years.

While the investmart next year will aim at signing MoUs of about Rs 50,000 crore, the ones in 2013 and 2015 will target at facilitating investment MoUs of Rs 1.25 lakh crore and Rs 1.75 lakh crore, respectively.

The three associations have also proposed to partner for development of 14 new industrial clusters in the state on public-private partnership basis. With each cluster housing 1,800 to 2,000 industrial units, the proposed new clusters will house between 25,000 and 28,000 units, providing direct and indirect employment to six lakh people.

This was stated by Assocham national secretary general D S Rawat, BCC president P K Aggarwal and BIA vice-president S K Patwari while releasing an Assocham study on “Cluster Development for Inclusive Growth in Bihar” here on Sunday.

The 14 new clusters entail an investment of Rs 450 crore on basic infrastructure like roads, power etc. Land for these clusters would have to be provided by the state government, said Rawat.

He said these clusters have been proposed in Patna, Darbhanga, Madhubani, Barauni, Muzaffarpur, Katihar, Madhepura, Bhagalpur, Munger, Nawada, Supaul, Gaya, Bhojpur and Hajipur.

There is good scope for cluster-based development of agro and other industries in Bihar, Rawat said, as it is the largest producer of vegetables and second largest producer of fruits in the country. Maize, sugarcane, litchi, makhana, mango and aromatic rice are also grown in the state on a large scale.

Assocham has also suggested to the state government to set up a statutory Cluster Development Authority for proper utilization of funds.

Complimenting the state leadership on getting a massive mandate, Rawat said the government has sent a message that it has strong will power for the development of the state. Asked why earlier attempts to attract industries to the state had drawn a blank, Rawat said that the election has removed whatever misconceptions and apprehensions investors had about Bihar.

Stressing that investors put a premium on conducive environment, including good law and order and stability, he said the state government would now have to come out with new industrial, agricultural, food processing and biotechnology policies.

He hinted at the need for a change in bureaucratic mindset as well when he gave the example of principal secretaries receiving industrialists at the airport on the latter’s arrival at Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh for an investors’ meet in September this year. MoUs worth Rs 2.53 lakh crore were signed by MP during the two-day investors’ summit, he said, adding “Prospective investors should be made to feel that the state needs them.”

Read more: Trade associations to hold investmarts

Sonalika tractors setting up manufacturing unit in Bihar !!

In order to meet the robust demand of tractors in the domestic and the international markets, Punjab-based International Tractors Ltd (ITL) makers of Sonalika brand tractors is planning to ramp up its production capacity. The company has plans to increase its capacity to 1,00,000 tractors per annum from 60,000 at present.

Speaking to Business Standard, ITL Vice Chairman A S Mittal said, “We are planning to increase the capacity of Hoshiarpur unit by 20,000 units. At present our manufacturing facility in Hoshiarpur (Punjab) manufactures 60,000 tractors a year. Another 20,000 units will be added to our new upcoming facility, which we are setting up in Bihar. Further, we will be infusing about Rs 100 crore in ramping up the capacity.”

It is worth mentioning that in order to strengthen its presence in eastern India, the company has set up tractor manufacturing unit in Bihar, which would be fully operational by next year. He added, “We are hopeful the capacity addition in both the units will be completed by 2011.”

The company manufactures various tractors of Sonalika brand between 30 HP and 90 HP. Commenting upon the sales this year, he added, “This year has been very good for the industry. We have sold around 30,000 units during the period April-November 2010. Overall, we expect we will be able sell about 51,000 tractors, including exports, by the end of this financial year. So far performance is concerned, we have witnessed a growth of over 20-22 per cent over the corresponding period last year.”

ITL is among the top four tractor-selling companies in India. The company also export tractors to various countries, including South Africa, Australia, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, Canada, Bangladesh, Algeria, Zambia, Senegal, Ghana, etc. In order to cater to the African market, the company has set up an assembly plant in Nigeria with collaboration of a leading Nigerian company to expand export base in the African countries and has also launched tractors co-branding with leading Italian companies.

Recently, in order to stretch its wings in the south American markets for its Sonalika brand of tractors and farming solutions in several countries in south America, the company has tied up with Apache, a leading manufacturer of agricultural equipment in Argentina, to distribute its products in Argentina under the co-branding of Apache–Solis. According to the protocol signed between the two companies — Apache and Solis (ITL), all units will be assembled in Argentina.

Solis is another brand of the company and it is selling its tractors in the international market with the brand name ‘SOLIS’. Considering the wide potential of south American markets, the company plans to tap Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Surinam, Paraguay and Bolivia in a big way. The company has also tied up with Brazil’s major tractor and farm equipment manufacturers to sell their products in Brazil.
Read more: Sonalika tractors setting up manufacturing unit in Bihar

Bihar to appoint 45,000 more constables

The state government is to recruit 45,000 new constables. This will be in addition to the 13,000 cops already being appointed and whose process has been going on for last several months.
This was decided at a three-hour meeting the chief minister Nitish Kumar had with top officials of home and police on Saturday. The chief minister also inquired the status of the appointment of 13,000 constables.

Assocham to help Bihar develop 14 industrial clusters !!

To develop 14 industrial clusters for an estimated cost of Rs 450 crore for employment and revenue generation in Bihar the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry in India (Assocham) has proposed to partner with the Nitish Kumar government in the state.

According to Assocham general secretary D S Rawat the proposed clusters will, directly and indirectly, provide jobs to six lakh people.

Talking to reporters in Patna after releasing the Assocham’s Study Report on Cluster Development for Inclusive Growth in Bihar, on Sunday he said the 14 proposed industrial clusters have a capacity of about 25,000-28,000 units with each providing jobs to 8-10 people.
Rawat said Bihar would also benefit from the development of the industrial clusters in terms of both revenue and employment generation.

Read More: Assocham to help Bihar develop 14 industrial clusters