'Bihar will be a developed state'

Patna, Dec 19 (IANS) Professionals from Bihar who have made a mark in various fields at home and abroad say the state is changing and will be developed in the coming years.

"Bihar is on the verge of change and development, positive signs are visible," said Sampada Singh, chairman of pharma company Alkem Labs, at a two-day conclave on Bihar that began here Saturday.        
"Still, more miles have to be covered by Bihar before it becomes a paradise for investment and development," Singh said after inaugurating the conclave.        
Pulak Prasad, the founder of Singapore-based Nalanda Capital, said industrialisation is the key to the state's development.        
"Bihar cannot develop without industrialisation. It is high time that industries are set up on the public-private partnership format," Prasad added.        
M.J. Warsi, who teaches at Washington University in St Louis, appealed to the privileged sections to help the people of Bihar attain better standards of living.         
"But that cannot be posssible unless we share more than our money, we must share our talents, ideas, energies along with our investible surplus."         
The objective of the conclave, which more than 100 people with their roots in Bihar are attending, is to bring industry captains, policy makers, scholars, development practitioners and social activists on a common platform to discuss ways to accelerate the pace of socio-economic change in Bihar.        
"The overall intention is to identify and bring such faces into focus and credit those accomplishments which brought fame to the state," said Ajay Kumar, chief executive of Bihartimes.com, which is organising the conclave.        
Filmmaker Arvind Sinha, World Bank Institute vice-president Sanjay Pradhan, Amrapali group chairman and managing director Anil K. Sharma, and Hari Shankaer Sharma, founder-president of the Sweden-based Global College of Neuroprotection and Neuroregeneration are among those attending the conclave.