Patna: A high-level meeting chaired by chief secretary Pratyaya Amrit was held with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Monday to deliberate on investment proposals exceeding one billion dollar aimed at comprehensive development of the state.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 participated in the discussions. The chief secretary said Bihar is prepared to take a major leap in key economic and infrastructure sectors and that the ADB partnership would be beneficial for accelerating development. He said the proposals would be examined and the state govt would return with an action plan.
Mio Oka, India country director of ADB, outlined key priority areas for collaboration, including comprehensive development of the Buddhist Circuit; projects focused on water resources and agricultural transformation; a state-wide skill development initiative; urban infrastructure and resilience projects for select cities; energy sector reforms such as renewable energy expansion with grid integration and a future-ready distribution system; and a health and medical education transformation programme.Officials said the proposed package is expected to help Bihar by improving irrigation and farm productivity, strengthening urban services and climate resilience in cities, expanding reliable power supply to support households and industry, upgrading healthcare and medical education capacity, and creating job-linked skills to raise employability. The Buddhist Circuit proposal is expected to support tourism-led local employment and small business growth across key destinations.The meeting also discussed innovation-focused interventions such as women-centric MSME development, manufacturing competitiveness and logistics improvements, a public financial management programme, including support for PPP development, and measures to reduce the school readiness gap to strengthen foundational learning. Integrated manufacturing and logistics clusters in Gaya and Muzaffarpur and reforms to improve capital expenditure efficiency and revenue collection were also taken up as part of the proposed engagement.ADB representatives said their strategic engagement with Bihar is moving toward high-impact, multi-sectoral solutions by combining global expertise with concessional capital to accelerate the state’s transition toward a higher-productivity, innovation-driven economy.
