Patna: CM Samrat Choudhary on Thursday set an ambitious target of connecting one crore families in Bihar with entrepreneurship and economic self-reliance, saying the govt would focus on creating job providers rather than job seekers. He said this would go alongside expansion of industries, infrastructure, education and energy over the next five years.Choudhary was speaking at an orientation programme for beneficiaries of the Chief Minister Entrepreneur Scheme at Bapu Sabhagar, where he launched the Bihar MSME Policy 2026 and inaugurated MSME centres in all districts.The CM said the centres would provide district-level guidance and support to aspiring entrepreneurs. He also announced that 25% to 40% of govt procurement would comprise goods manufactured in Bihar under the state’s Purchase Preference Act, creating a larger market for local industries.Bihar has set a target of attracting Rs 5 lakh crore in investment through the public-private partnership (PPP) mode and making 20,000MW of power available to industries over the next five years, he said.Choudhary said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had allocated Rs 10,000 crore for the MSME sector, with Bihar expected to receive at least one-tenth. He thanked the Prime Minister for the support.Under the Chief Minister Entrepreneur Scheme, 45,000 entrepreneurs are being created through MSMEs, including 14,000 from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities, 10,000 from extremely backward classes, 9,500 women, 9,000 youth and 2,500 from minority communities. The govt is spending Rs 3,500 crore on the scheme.At Thursday’s programme, the CM transferred instalments directly into the bank accounts of more than 7,000 beneficiaries and presented symbolic cheques to selected beneficiaries for 2025-26.Choudhary said industrial and employment expansion would help reduce migration. He highlighted infrastructure projects, including rural roads, highways, expressways and the Patna Metro. He announced ropeways at 20 major tourist destinations within two years and said a private company had shown interest in connecting Marine Drive with Sonepur. All agricultural power feeders would be connected to solar energy within the next year, he said.Industries and sports minister Shreyasi Singh, minority welfare minister Md Jama Khan, backward classes and extremely backward classes welfare minister Rama Nishad, SC/ST welfare minister Lakhendra Kumar Raushan, chief secretary Pratyaya Amrit and senior officials were present.
