Patna: Chief minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday left for Japan, where he will seek assistance for what the state government called Metro projects on the Patna-Gaya and Patna-Rajgir routes.

The two routes see a mass transit of people for work and for tourism every day. While it takes two hours at present in overcrowded trains to reach Gaya, around 100km from Patna, there is no direct rail link to Rajgir (105km from Patna) from the state capital.

Road construction minister and senior BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav, who is accompanying Nitish, said: "We will present our proposals to develop Metro rail on the Patna-Gaya and Patna-Rajgir routes and seek financial assistance Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for them. JICA is already funding Patna-Gaya-Dobhi and Rajgir-Biharsharif four-lane highways in Bihar."

Bihar, he said, wants to integrate Vaishali in the Buddhist circuit that is being developed, and it will also be discussed with the Japanese government and officials.

Government sources said Bihar will also seek financial assistance for a ring railway or mass rapid transit project around Patna, propose a joint venture to fund industrial projects, and seek Japanese expertise in establishing industrial parks.

Chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh, industries department principal secretary S. Siddharth, road construction department principal secretary Amrit Lal Meena, the CM's principal secretary Chanchal Kumar and secretary Atish Chandra, Bihar Industries Association president K.P.S. Keshri, and entrepreneur O.P. Shah are part of the 11-member team headed by Nitish. They will participate in an investment seminar in Tokyo on February 20 and a business meeting in Osaka the next day.

The chief minister is carrying wooden statuettes of Lord Buddha, replicas of seals found at ancient Rajgriha (Rajgir), and Mithila paintings as gifts. He will also ride a bullet train in Japan. The team will return to New Delhi on February 22 and reach Patna on the next morning.