Calcutta: Bihar has changed. There is 24/7 power availability in major cities. The roads are on a par with any state in the country. The law and order is good, it's no longer known for its kidnapping industry; culprits are caught and punished.

That was what deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi told investors and information technology (IT) experts at Infocom 2017, an ABP Group initiative, here on Friday.

The government is betting on cost competitiveness and plethora of incentives to attract IT investment in the state.

"Bihar was earlier affected by bad image. But after Nitish Kumar became chief minister of Bihar and NDA came to power, there has been a complete change in the image of Bihar in each and every field," Modi said.

He said that Bihar is not just a landlocked state, but the landholdings are small and the lands are fertile making it difficult to acquire large amount of land for industry. "But, the IT and ITeS (IT enabled services) sector does not require large amount of land," Modi said while making a case for Bihar attracting investment from the sector.

The state government, which has announced a dozen benefits for IT, is eyeing a compounded annual growth rate 20 per cent for the sector between 2017 and 2022. The incentives range from stamp duty and land conversion charges, property tax moratorium, interest rate subvention, state GST reimbursement, provident fund contributions, marketing assistance and single window clearance, training and recruitment support among others.

These incentives coupled with low infrastructure cost and affordable surface transport could potentially lower the overall cost for the companies by around 10 per cent.

Bihar IT secretary Rahul Singh said that in addition to incentives, the state is also setting up infrastructure for the benefit of the IT sector. An IT tower in Patna, a 25 acre IT park at Bihta and a 100-acre IT city in Rajgir are among the proposed projects in the state. Allied to these infrastructure, growth in education hospitality and healthcare are expected to support any investment decision in the state.

"Bihar has missed the bus (of IT sector development) in the 90s. But we feel that we have something to offer on the cost front and we think that there is a scope of attracting investment in the IT sector in the state," said Singh.