Centre to help Bihar set up electronic goods manufacturing hub

The Centre wants Bihar to have manufacturing hubs for electronic goods in the state to improve employment and revenue opportunities, said Union minister for communications and IT, Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Saturday.

“We are ready to provide all help for establishing manufacturing hubs as they will increase employment and revenue opportunities in the state. I have written to Bihar CM Jitan Ram Manjhi,” said Prasad, addressing a two-day BJP state executive meet in Patna. “The state just needs to provide us land and we will help establish electronic manufacturing centres. The PM wants India to develop in electronics and manufacturing of electronic goods,” he said. The minister said he had written to the Bihar CM a month ago, but was yet to receive a reply.

Elaborating his department’s plans for Bihar, Prasad said BSNL was working towards setting up 500 new mobile towers in the 2014-15 fiscal to improve connectivity across the state. “Around 70 new towers have already been set up in this financial year. BSNL will also set up 650 new towers in the next fiscal,” said Prasad.

He also said his ministry was chalking an ambitious plan to upgrade BSNL telephone exchanges in the state to modern digital ones by 2016 and they would have a capacity of 20 lakh phone lines.

Courtesy: PTI