PATNA: Bihar set out its road and power figures and new industrial policies at the Rising Bihar Investor Summit 2026 in Patna on Thursday, October 1. The state aims to attract investments worth ₹5 lakh crore by November.
Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary opened the summit at the Taj City Centre hotel together with Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, state Industries Minister Shreyasi Singh and Road Construction Minister Kumar Shailendra, according to reports carried by Social News XYZ and Punjab Kesari.
Choudhary said Bihar was ready to welcome investments and that the state government would provide all possible support and facilities. He argued that the state's population of about 14 crore should be seen as an economic asset rather than a liability.
He set out the state's infrastructure record in figures. Bihar's road network has grown from about 8,000 km to about 1.5 lakh km, he said, and its electricity capacity from about 500 MW in 2005 to more than 10,000 MW today. The target is 20,000 MW within five years.
He also listed policies meant to help industry. Under the state's procurement policy, 25 per cent of eligible government purchases are to come from qualifying local industries whose products meet quality standards. Bihar has also drawn up, for the first time, a silt policy that allows material dredged from rivers to be reused in construction. Agricultural power feeders are being moved to solar to improve daytime electricity supply, and the state is working on a long-term strategy for the Ganga, Kosi and Gandak rivers, Punjab Kesari reported.
The summit's theme was "The Emerging Investment Destination of India", according to Daily Prabhat. Priority sectors pitched at the summit included tourism, hotels and eco-tourism, industrial corridors and townships, and water resources and agriculture.
Gadkari said Bihar has "immense potential to emerge as a major hub for industry, enterprise and innovation", and called infrastructure and connectivity crucial to development, Asianet Newsable reported. He also said significant development work was under way in the state under Choudhary's leadership.
"Investment-led development, combined with infrastructure expansion and employment generation, could strengthen Bihar's position in India's broader economic growth story," Gadkari said, Daily Prabhat reported.
The summit covered opportunities in industry, energy and power, urban development and housing, roads and connectivity, agriculture and food processing, and IT and IT-enabled services. The state has designated more than 100 industrial areas for investors and offers fiscal benefits, subsidies and land concessions under the Bihar Industrial Investment Promotion Package 2025, according to the same report. The event brought together policymakers, investors, industry leaders and entrepreneurs to discuss the state's industrial growth plans.
The summit came a week after the state cabinet approved a set of projects with an industrial and agricultural angle. At a meeting chaired by Choudhary and reported on September 24, the cabinet approved a new sugar mill at Warisaliganj in Nawada district, transferring 99.39 acres for a project expected to bring ₹500 crore of investment, Indian Masterminds reported.
The same meeting approved ₹126 crore for dairy projects in the Kosi region, including a curd plant, an ice cream plant and a buffalo heifer farm; ₹195.28 crore for an aquaculture project in the wetlands of Siwan; and ₹160 crore over three years for the Mukhya Mantri Gaudhan Vikas Rinn Yojana, a livestock loan scheme.
Choudhary became Chief Minister on April 15, 2026, succeeding Nitish Kumar. He is the first BJP politician to hold the post in Bihar.
