| This is not the first time the state is soliciting NRI investment. In his first term, shortly after he was elected, former Chief Minister Lalu Prasad, too, hosted a convention in 1995 to which a hopeful Bihar Industries Association pledged large sums of money, "dreaming of the day when Bihar would become an FDI destination", said SK Mehrotra, past chairman of the organisation. |
| "At that time, Bihar was one of the first states to leverage globalisation and we took six months to organise the event," he said. Between 1994 and 1995, Prasad toured Singapore, the US and the UK to invite investments to Bihar. But the fodder scam followed immediately after, and the state did not see any progress on the FDI front. |
| Now things are different, officials say. A state government official said both Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Finance Minister Sushil Modi would attend the meeting, to set the ball rolling for a full-scale convention later in Patna. |
| "We have decided to woo NRI investors and both of us may make it to the meet. We will make a powerful presentation (at the NRI meet). We are hopeful the outcome will be fruitful this time," Sushil Modi was quoted as saying in Patna by agencies. |
| On his part, Kumar said he had called a meeting of all Bihar cadre IAS officers on central deputation to discuss how to present Bihar at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas. |
| Although there is no documentation of the number of Biharis who live and work abroad as non-resident Indians, Kumar is conscious that they have to be stirred into returning to and investing in their state. |
| He repeatedly made this point at the Jagran Forum where he made his first speech in New Delhi after becoming the chief minister. |
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