Improved efficiency, transparency, high standards and regular monitoring have turned around the fate of three state-run corporations, which a few years back, were deemed sick.

Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman Nigam Ltd (BRPNN), Bihar State Text Book Publishing Corporation Limited (BSTBPC) and Bihar State Police Building Construction Corporation (BSPBCC) are earning huge money and also donating part of their profits to the chief minister’s relief fund.

The BRPNN was a loss-making unit when Nitish Kumar came to power and had incurred a loss of Rs 11 crore in 2005-06 with a turnover of around Rs 57 crore. There were even talks of closing down the Nirman Nigam.

Nitish, however, chose to revive the ailing civic agency and directed that more works should be awarded to it. Things witnessed a sea change since then and the BRPNN had a turnover of around Rs 1,200 crore in 2011-12. It registered a profit of Rs 143 crore that year.

The civic body tasted success in the very first year after Nitish issued the directive. In 2006-07, the BRPNN curbed its losses and achieved the break-even figures.

From 2007-08, the Nigam started earning profits and so far the BRPNN has donated Rs 55 crore to the chief minister’s relief fund.

Similarly, there was a time when the Bihar State Text Book Publishing Corporation Limited faced a tough time in paying salaries to its employees.

The revolution is such that the corporation is now churning money, with an accumulated profit of more than Rs 80 crore. The corporation prints school books and also delivers them at the block-level from where it is supplied to various schools for free distribution among students.

JKP Singh, the managing director of the corporation, said: “In the past few years we have been able to deliver school books in government schools on time. Around three years ago, students used to get books in November or December, when half of the academic session was over.”

He also attributed the success to innovative techniques and curtailing the role of middlemen in printing and distribution of books.

Singh added: “We have also forayed into printing stationery for the police, the panchayati raj and the general administration departments. For more profit, we now have less employees and more computers. We also use latest techniques to run the show.”

In 2009-10, the BSTBPC notched up a profit of Rs 15 crore and in 2011-12, it made a profit of Rs 45 crore. “Every year, the profit is increasing by Rs 15 crore. Now, our target is to cross Rs 100 crore in 2013-2014,” said Singh. The corporation has recently donated Rs 1 crore to the chief minister’s relief fund.

On the other hand, the Bihar State Police Building Construction Corporation, too, has recorded huge profit in the past three years.

“Since we have performed well in the past two to three years, the government has assigned more projects to us. Our turnover has increased and we expect to cross the profit target in the coming fiscal,” BSPBCC chief engineer Rajendra Prasad Choudhary said.

The corporation had earned profit of Rs 9.53 crore in 2009-10. The amount was only Rs 2.94 crore in 2008-09. In 2010-11, the profit was Rs 8.2 crore. In 2011-12, the turnover was Rs 103 crore and in 2012-13, it crossed Rs 191 crore with profit of Rs 12.3 crore and Rs 19 crore, respectively. A few months ago, the construction corporation has donated Rs 2 crore towards the chief minister’s relief fund.

The corporation has more than a dozen mega projects to accomplish in the next financial year.

The corporation has been assigned to complete the proposed police academy at Rajgir in Nalanda. It has been asked to construct 1,400 police barracks in different districts of the state.

The government has also asked the corporation to build 48 police stations in the Naxalite-affected districts.