Sushil Kumar Modi asks Nitish Kumar to explain land availability for industries

PATNA: Former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi today hit out at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for raising a false hope about industrialisation in Bihar upon grant of special status and asked the latter to explain availability of land for setting up industrial units.

The Chief Minister has unnecessarily created a hype about industrial development in Bihar upon grant of special status and raised a false hope among the people despite knowing that land remained a scarce resource in the state, the senior BJP leader told reporters here.

An investor requires hundreds and thousands of acre land for setting up industrial unit that was simply not available in one chunk anywhere in the state due to huge population pressure on the resource, Modi said.

The industrialisation process in Bihar during the NDA rule failed to take off to desired level due to land scarcity despite the fact that the state government had formulated one of the best industrial policy anywhere in the country, he said.

It has been noted that the investors had found it difficult to acquire land directly from the farmers and even those chunks of land bought by a state government undertaking

- Bihar Infrastructure Area Development Authority (BIADA) - has failed to take possession of the same at several places in the state to transfer it to the investors, the former deputy chief minister said.

Despite knowing the constraints about availability of land for industrial development, the Chief Minister has needlessly created a hype about industrial development after grant of special status, Modi rued.

Meanwhile, a RJD youth wing leader Md Zulfikar and JD(U) leaders Md Alim, Zahid Hussain and Awadesh Singh joined the BJP in the presence of the party's national leader Syed Shahanwaz Hussain and others.