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PATNA,Jan
17(Economic Times) NON-RESIDENT
Biharis (NRBs), who have made their mark in their adopted
land, were till now not very sure of investing in their
home state. Doubts had been hounding them till recently.
But a good number of the NRBs are now willing to take
a call on Bihar. The catharsis in their thinking could
perhaps be attributed to the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government,
which has been working 'indefatigably' to brand Bihar
as an investor friendly destination.
Meet
MJ Warsi, the professor who teaches linguistics in Washington
University. Although Dr Warsi regularly visits his native
village in Kusheshwarsthan, the idea of opening a linguistic
institute in the state capital never dawned on him. "I
had not given any serious thought to any such proposal
for an institute. But now I am all for it. In fact, I
even met the science and technology minister for opening
a software-based linguistic centre in Patna," Dr
Warsi told ET.
But the California-based NRB Ravi Verma has already provided
the lead to his other peers by opening a software institute
in his native Katihar town. "It was my dream to do
something for my state. It now gives me immense satisfaction
that the institute in Katihar is supplying software products
to hotel management groups in the US," said Mr Verma,
who passed out from IIT Kanpur to float a software company
Tele-Command Software in California. Not content with
the Katihar experiment, Mr Verma is now willing to bet
big on Bihar.
"Now I want to set up a modern engineering college
in the state. I am already through with the proposal.
I will take the opportunity to discuss with the state
government when I am here for the three-day global meet
on resurgent Bihar" Mr Verma told ET.
Admitting that the Nitish government has succeeded in
conveying a credible message to the potential investors,
Mr Verma said there were others like him who have firmed
their investment plans for the state. "Investing
in Bihar is like strengthening our emotional bonding with
our home state," Mr Verma added.
Like Mr Verma, a whole lot of other NRBs are heading for
Patna to participate in the three-day global meet on resurgent
Bihar commencing from January 19. Like Mr Verma, they
will be coming with their investment plans. Ramesh Yadav,
who is into a lucrative hotel business in the US, is keen
on launching hotel projects in Bihar. "Five star
hotels in Budddhist circuit besides one in state capital
are some of the proposals I have in mind," said Mr
Yadav. The UK based cardiologist Raje Narayan, another
NRB, has plans to open a chain of medical centres which
will cater to the medical needs of the patients suffering
from heart ailments.
The state government too is pinning high hopes on the
global meet which is expected to be attended by a fair
chunk of NRBs. If anything, the meet will surely provide
a window of opportunity for attracting investment.
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