Bihar IT conclave attracts investment intent worth Rs 460 crore

Patna, Dec 6 (PTI) The Bihar government on Friday claimed to have received an investment intent of Rs 460 crore from seven IT companies.

According to the department of information technology, the intent was expressed at an IT conclave here, where the largest proposal, for Rs 300 crore, came from Holoware, a company specialising in hardware manufacture.

With this, a total of 36 companies have so far shown interest in investing a combined amount of Rs 1,576 crore in the state's IT sector, the department said.

Addressing the conclave, Arvind Kumar Chaudhary, special secretary of the IT department, underscored that the business community had requested the introduction of a "Purchase Preference Policy," a demand that has been fulfilled by the government.

Chaudhary emphasised that with "progressive policies" such as the Bihar Industrial Policy, Textile and Leather Policy, and Bihar Startup Policy, "the onus is now on the business community to invest more" in the state.

Choudhary urged industry leaders to invest up to Rs 4,000 crore in Bihar's IT sector by March 2025 and claim that "brain drain" was a thing of the past and policies were now being formulated with a focus on "brain regain".

Speaking on the occasion, Prabhat Kumar Sinha, chairman of the ICC (Indian Chambers of Commerce) Bihar State Council, asserted that the state "has moved beyond challenges and is now focusing on creating opportunities".

"Bihar is the most youthful state in India, and it is witnessing a reverse brain drain, attracting talented professionals back to their home soil", Sinha added.

The conclave also featured key addresses from industry leaders, including Aditya Sinha, director of C-DAC, Raghvendra Ganesh S, founder and CEO of Holoware Software, S P Sinha, managing director of Bihar Hotels Limited, Alakh Verma, CEO of BeCentric and Ritesh Anand, chairman of finance, taxation, and economic affairs at ICC Bihar State Council. PTI NAC MNB