Abhay SinghPatna: The state cabinet meeting, chaired by CM Samrat Choudhary on Wednesday, approved the construction of a 336-km, six-lane Buxar-Bhagalpur Greenfield Expressway under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode. The cabinet approved 13 agenda items at the meeting.The expressway, proposed by the road construction department (RCD), will pass through 12 districts — Buxar, Bhojpur, Arwal, Jehanabad, Gaya, Nalanda, Sheikhpura, Munger, Lakhisarai, Jamui, Banka and Bhagalpur. The project will be implemented under the design, build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) model.The expressway will be fully access-controlled, meaning access to and exit from it will be permitted only at designated points. The project will involve investment facilitated by the state govt from its own funds and will be implemented by the Bihar State Road Development Corporation (BSRDC).The cabinet also approved, in principle, empowering BSRDC to select an agency to prepare the detailed project report (DPR) and appoint a transaction advisor. BSRDC will also identify land parcels along the proposed expressway based on their economic, industrial and commercial potential.In another decision, the cabinet sanctioned Rs83 crore for installing 11,000 additional private tubewells under the Chief Minister Private Tubewell Scheme during 2026-27 to promote irrigation water availability for agricultural plots. Subsidies will be provided to willing farmers. Earlier, Rs256 crore had been sanctioned for installing 35,000 private tubewells under the scheme.It also approved the release of Rs66.16 crore to the water resources department (WRD) for implementing the policy of providing irrigation water to every plot of agricultural land under the Saat Nischay-3 programme. Of this, Rs30.35 crore will be used to restore canal distributaries of the Janakinagar branch canal under the Narpatganj division of WRD. The remaining Rs35.81 crore will be spent on similar work on five identified canal distributaries in Katihar district.The cabinet also approved the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the information technology department and Taiyo AI India Pvt Ltd for developing the state’s AI ecosystem. Taiyo will contribute to the development of public infrastructure. The state govt had earlier approved MoUs with four other companies, including Google India and Microsoft, for work in the AI sector.The cabinet also approved exemption from stamp duty and registration fees on land acquired for the Kajra solar power plant in Lakhisarai.It approved a proposal to bring uniformity in the services provided by district employment offices to job seekers.The cabinet also approved the formation of primary sugar mill cooperative committees comprising cane growers in the command areas of Sakri sugar mill in Madhubani and Raiyam sugar mill in Darbhanga. Both mills are being revived under the cooperative system.It further cleared a proposal to promote the formation of fishermen’s cooperative committees at the district, divisional and state levels, with the participation of people from backward and deprived sections.
