Bihar’s industrial base remains narrow, and the state’s growth has ome largely from construction, services and public investment rather than manufacturing. The opportunity lies in what Bihar already produces: food processing, makhana, maize, litchi and dairy, alongside ethanol, textiles and leather. The service sector also has a role in supporting industrial growth and creating employment. Yet most enterprises in the state are own-account household units, constrained by access to credit, land, reliable power and markets, and few make the transition from survival activities to firms that hire workers. The question before this Convention is whether Bihar can industrialise through agro-value addition and enterprise density rather than by waiting for large-scale manufacturing to arrive. The Convention covers industrial policy and incentives, cluster development, MSME financing, formalisation, the service sector and the emerging startup ecosystem. It examines which instruments have actually increased investment and employment, and what it would take to anchor processing and value addition within the state
