PATNA, Nov. 5 -- Bihar's push to become an investment hub received a boost on Tuesday as the state's industries department signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the International Semiconductor Industry Group (ISIG) in New Delhi on Tuesday during chief minister Samrat Choudhary's visit to the national capital. The department of industries also inked another significant pact with the Mahasakthi Group for an integrated steel project in Gaya with an estimated investment of around Rs.6,000 crore, industry department officials said. On Wednesday, the CM also met JD(U) national president and former chief minister Nitish Kumar at his residence in Patna, shortly after returning from Delhi. The meeting, also attended by deputy chief minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, underscored the continuity of the state's development agenda and the rising confidence of industry in Bihar's industrial potential. In the Bharat Tex 2026 a few months back, the state government had signed MoUs with 16 leading textile companies involving investments of Rs.1,476 crore. These recent agreements build on the larger pipeline created through the Bihar Business Connect editions. In 2023, 300 MoUs worth Rs.50,530 crore were signed; of this, investments amounting to Rs.38,442 crore are already on the ground. Bihar Business Connect 2024 attracted proposals of Rs.1.81 lakh crore, with Rs.1.73 lakh crore directed towards industry. Manufacturing accounts for over Rs.23,000 crore of this, food processing more than Rs.12,500 crore, while projects worth Rs.9,327 crore are already operational. During his Delhi visit, chief minister Choudhary held discussions with several Union ministers on Bihar's development priorities, including early environmental clearances for the industrial corridors and support for eco-tourism on the public-private partnership model. He noted that Bihar's data centre, "Control S," for which land was made available in 2024, has already been inaugurated in Patna -- a step he described as significant for the state's technical and industrial growth. Choudhary said the state was accelerating land availability to convert these commitments into actual units. The process to make nearly 13,000 acres available for industries and other business establishments has begun, and more than 1,000 industrial units have already been allotted land. An industrial corridor is under development in Gaya under the Bhavy plan; proposals for similar corridors in Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga have been submitted to the Centre, with the chief minister expressing confidence of early approval. He has also sought five additional industrial corridors on the same lines. Last month's BIMCGL event attended Choudhary in Gaya saw a further string of commitments, including Mint Life Sciences (Rs.1,500 crore), ABIS Group (Rs.600 crore), Bioheal Energy (Rs.510 crore), Geofast Industries (Rs.500 crore), Kumar Organics (Rs.300 crore), and several others ranging from Rs.50 crore to over Rs.200 crore across sectors such as auto components, aluminium extrusion, agro products, biotech and jewellery. Meanwhile, during his meeting with former chief minister Nitish Kumar, Choudhary sought Kumar's guidance and conveyed congratulations on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Speaking to reporters later, the chief minister said the government remained fully committed to realising the goals of progress and good governance that Kumar had set for Bihar. "We have congratulated him and told him that the state government is working with full commitment to realise the goals he set for Bihar's progress and su-shasan," Choudhary said. He added that the tradition of good governance established earlier was being carried forward under the leadership of the Prime Minister and with Kumar's cooperation. The chief minister reiterated that rapid progress was under way in industrial development, infrastructure and related sectors. With the guidance of the Prime Minister and the cooperation of Nitish Kumar, he said, the resolve to make Bihar a developed state would be fulfilled. Along with the Central government's commitment to help the state get rid of the excessive silt in rivers and proactive gesture of the Union ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) to use silt in national highway projects, Choudhary's discussion with Nitish Kumar was also focussed growing confidence of investors in Bihar, which has reflected in a series of recent memoranda of understanding (MoU)....