Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi today batted for rapid urbanisation in Bihar, terming it as the engine for growth.
Citing figures of other states, he said Bihar's urbanisation stood at a mere 11.30 per cent, compared to 48.45 per cent in Tamil Nadu, 47 per cent in Kerala, 45 per cent in Maharashtra and 23 per cent in neighbouring West Bengal.
"We have merely 11.3 per cent of urbanisation in the state, while our 89 per cent people reside in rural areas...We have to take Bihar's percentage of urbanisation to 20 per cent in next few years," the minister said.
Every city must have facilities like bypass, an auditorium of 1,000 to 1,500 capacity, parks, street lights, drinking water, sewerage, bus stand, collection of property tax, good transport system, among others.
Stating that funds were not a problem, Sushil Modi said urban local bodies (ULBs) will get Rs 2,600 crore between 2015-2020, and out of it, they have already received Rs 809 crore.
The deputy chief minister, who also heads the finance and commercial taxes department, said all purchases made by government wings and ULBs will be made through the government e-market portal in Bihar from January 1, 2018.
He also said that the state government has handed the responsibility of collecting property tax of Patna Municipal Corporation to a private agency.
Sushil Modi said state government officials have been asked to give concessions to those who deposit property tax online.
Meanwhile, he launched 45 schemes worth Rs 95.57 crore today, besides laying foundations of 162 schemes totalling Rs 568 crore of the Urban Development Department.
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