Patna, Aug. 26: Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi told industrialists and investors today that they would have to acquire land on their own for their projects, as the state government could help them only up to a certain extent.

“Industries need to acquire land on their own. They must take landowners into confidence to acquire land. You (industrialists) need to involve them (landowners) in the process of development, so that they can reap the benefits for a longer period. If industrialists or entrepreneurs fail to do so then it will be quite difficult to make land available to them,” Modi said, while addressing the members of eastern region council of Confederation of Indian Industries in the state capital (CII).

Modi, who also holds the state’s finance portfolio, released Bihar Agenda for Development in the presence of CII eastern region chairman Ranaveer Sinha, regional director Saugat Mukherjee, CII state council chairman Nirmallya Ghosal, former chairman and Satyajit Singh and CII state head Archan Deb.

Modi was, however, quick to add that land acquisition was not an issue plaguing Bihar alone. It had become a major problem for the nation. The central government has been trying its best to push through the bill pertaining to land acquisition and rehabilitation policy in this session of Parliament itself.