Chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi addresses the meeting organised by Bihar Industries Association in Patna on Wednesday. Picture by Ashok Sinha

Patna, June 11: Chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi today announced that special cabinet meetings focused on industry would be held to make investments viable in the state.

Manjhi made the announcement at his first interaction with industrialists since taking over as chief minister last month.

“The state needs to develop in the industry sector. The fact that Bihar has garnered investments worth just Rs 6,000-Rs 7,000 crore is not a good sign. This sector needs to improve as the economy of any state or country depends upon industries and investments. Hence, the state will be holding a special cabinet for industries and issues related to the sector will be discussed. Solutions of the problems in the sector will be studied and solved,” Manjhi said.

The Industry Cabinet will be on the same lines as the Agriculture Cabinet, which had been started by former chief minister Nitish Kumar on April 26, 2011.

The details, when it comes to the date and other formalities in connection with the special cabinet, will be decided shortly, Manjhi said.

The industry sector is battling many issues, including land scarcity.

A section of industrialists called the decision a “multiplicity of institutions” which would do little good for the state and investments.

Among the initiatives of the government was forming of the Bihar State Industrial Investment and Advisory Council in 2011 with over a dozen biggies of Indian industry as members. The first meeting of the council was held in Patna on September 15, 2011. The industrialists had then clearly stated that Bihar’s investment future depended on the availability of power and land. The second meeting of the council was held on October 19, 2013, in Mumbai. The council repeated both issues, stressing on land scarcity. That was the last time the council met.

Last year, the government started the Udyami Adalat and Panchayat too in order to look into the problems of industrialists.

“This is a multiplicity of institutions. There is this council, Udyami Adalat which takes place each week, the Udyami Panchayat which takes place on the fifth Monday of a month, the single window system for industries etc. The fact is that none of these are working fine,” said Satyajit Kumar Singh, chairman of the Bihar chapter of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry.