Bihar Business Connect 2024: Sun Petrochemicals, Adani Group lead record ₹1.8 lakh cr investment proposals

Bihar attracted investment proposals worth a record ₹1.8 lakh crore across multiple sectors at the Bihar Business Connect 2024 investor summit, more than triple of the amount the state received at its maiden investor meet last year.

In a strong vote of confidence from investors, Industries and Tourism Minister Nitish Mishra announced that the state had signed multiple memorandum of understanding (MoUs) entailing investment of over ₹1.8 lakh crore.

Leading the investment pack, Sun Petrochemicals committed ₹36,700 crore towards renewable energy projects, including pump hydro and solar plants. Dilip Shanghvi, Managing Director of Sun Petrochemicals, asserted that the projects in the pre-commissioning stage will create more than 30,000 jobs.

"I wish to use this opportunity to appreciate the significant change in investor sentiment and environment in the state which encourages us to commit this and in subsequent projects," Shanghvi said.

"... And it is something that helps us strengthen the focus of the central government also, in terms of renewable energy and infrastructure. So, I look forward to participating in the growth of Bihar and contributing to this growth, so that we can be a partner in this growth," he added.

The Adani Group announced plans to invest ₹20,000 crore in setting up an ultra-supercritical thermal power plant, besides the expansion of ement manufacturing capacity to 10 million tonnes annually with an investment of Rs 2,500 crore in multiple phases.

"We expect such a massive project to open up at least 12,000 job vacancies in the pre-commissioning phase and also lead to around 1,500 skilled jobs during the operational phase,” Pranav Adani, Director, Adani Enterprises Ltd said at the event.

Adani said the ports-to-energy conglomerate is invested in three sectors in Bihar - logistics, gas distribution and agri logistics, where it has already invested around Rs 850 crore.

"We are now going to invest another Rs 2,300 crore in these sectors. This investment will not only massively increase our warehousing and handling capacity and expand our presence in the EV, city gas distribution (CGD) and compressed biogas (CBG) space but will also generate an additional 27,000 direct and indirect local job opportunities," he added.

Adani also announced a ₹2,100 crore plan to manufacture and install smart meters in five cities—Siwan, Gopalganj, Vaishali, Saran, and Samastipur—which is expected to generate 4,000 local jobs.

State-run NHPC Ltd pledged an investment of ₹5,500 crore to set up a 1,000 MW solar power project. NHPC’s Chairman and Managing Director Raj Kumar Chaudhary said the project, to be completed within two years of land acquisition, would provide a major boost to Bihar’s renewable energy goals.

"Land is crucial for solar projects. And we would urge the state government to facilitate land acquisition so that we could do the project on time," he said.

Chaudhary said NHPC is also proposing to set up a small solar plant, electricity from which would be used to make green hydrogen.

"The green hydrogen produced will be used to power passenger buses," he said.

Construction major Ashoka Buildcon committed ₹9,000 crore to establish a green hydrogen plant in Begusarai. The first phase of the project, which will utilise electricity from a 1,250 MW solar project, is expected to be operational within two years. Mayank Sharma, COO-Renewable Energy at Ashoka Buildcon, said the company’s plans would help position Bihar as a leader in green hydrogen production.

According to the latest presentation on the company website, Ashoka Buildcon had an order book of ₹Rs 11,697 crore as of March 31, 2024. Of this, the roads and railway project is ₹ 6,214 crore, which is 53% of the total order book. Power T&D is to the tune of ₹4,796 crore.

Bihar’s food processing sector also attracted significant investments, with SLMG Beverages committing ₹3,000 crore and Haldiram Snacks Pvt Ltd pledging ₹300 crore in MoU signed with the state government.

Shree Cements announced an ₹800 crore investment in the general manufacturing sector.

Under Bihar’s new IT Policy 2024, companies like Bharti Airtel, CtrlS, and Holoware have lined up investments to build the state’s IT ecosystem.

"Airtel and Ctrls are in a very advance stage. They have already taken stage 1 clearance. They are submitting financial proposals and very soon you will see their actual investment happening," IT Secretary Abhay Kumar said.

He said Chennai-based Holoware is also investing in the state for manufacturing of IT hardwares.

"They (Holoware) are putting up their factory for laptop PCs. One of their proposals of Rs 30 crore is already cleared, and in time to come they are supposed to make an investment of Rs 300 crore," Kumar said.