Bihar Industrial Area Development Auhtority
The Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority (BIADA) was established in the year 1974 under the statutory provision of the Bihar Industrial Development Act 1974. BIADA functions under the management of Department of Industries, Government of Bihar. BIADA was formed with an aim to provide planned industrial areas and promote industrial and infrastructure development in Bihar.
BIADA has about 52 industrial areas, industrial estates, large industrial estates, growth centers, and mega industrial parks under four regional offices which include Patna, Bhagalpur, Muzaffarpur, and Darbhanga.
The total area of land lying vacant under BIADA is about 144 acres (109 football fields) across the state. The total value of vacant land held under BIADA is around ₹ 272 crore [1].
Comptroller Auditor General of India (CAG) point out several irregularities in the functioning of BIADA with respect to allotment of plots. Between the year 2002-12 BIADA received around 3,722 applications out of which BIADA allotted land to 2,049 applicants. CAG revealed that the allotment of land made by BIADA was arbitrary and discriminatory, as it was decided that plots will be auctioned instead of first come service, but CAG observed that BIADA still continued to practice first-come service method. There were instances where 317 acres of land was allotted to 83 applicants without approval project profile report [2].
In Patna, around 174 applications were presented without any documentation before the Project Clearance Committee. CAG stated that the land was not given for industrial purposes and in some cases, excess land was allotted as against the prescribed norms.
This shows that how the bureaucrats working in BIADA misused the public land, instead of developing industries in the state of Bihar. These unused and misused land-parcels should be free from the control of bureaucrats so that it could be used for productive purposes and contribute to the economic development of Bihar.
Refer to the table and accompanying map for details.
