The World Bank has praised Bihar for being the first state in the country to have abolished the agriculture product Marketing (APM) Act besides repealing the Urban Land Ceiling Act and adopting the Model Municipal Act.
Stating that "Bihar has come a long way" the report appreciated the single Window Clearance Act 2006 and the constitution of the State Investment Promotion Board (SIPB), The World Bank Country Director for India Isabel Guerrero is of the view that if the current momentum for progress can be sustained, the state can hope to bring prosperity to its people.
The report said that as part of its efforts to double the State Gross Domestic Product (SGDP) growth from 4.5 to 8.5 per cent in the next five years, the state is proposing to raise investment to Rs 1.67 lakh crore during the 11th Five Year Plan. The total outlay would comprises Rs 60,000 crore public investment and Rs 1.07 lakh crore from the private sector.
The state government's move for taking fiscal initiatives like decentralising financial powers and replacing outdated financial rulesregarding public procurement with the overall objective of eliminating revenue deficit and reducing fiscal deficit in a time-bound manner has also been praised by the report.
Source: http://www.bihartimes.com/news07/Sep/23nine1.html
