Patna Municipal Corporation’s Rs 200-crore municipal bonds were listed on the National Stock Exchange on Tuesday, creating a new funding route for Bihar’s civic infrastructure and prompting the state government to ask other urban local bodies to explore market-based finance.
Chief minister Samrat Choudhary rang the ceremonial bell at the listing event organised by Bihar’s urban development and housing department. Representatives of the NSE, including Krishna Iyyer, head of issuer relationships, product and business development, attended the ceremony in Patna. Deputy chief ministers Vijay Kumar Choudhary and Bijendra Prasad Yadav, urban development and housing minister Nitish Mishra, Patna mayor Sita Sahu and chief secretary Pratyaya Amrit were also present, according to the report.
The listing marks the first time a municipal bond issued by a civic body in Bihar has been listed on the NSE. Choudhary described the Rs 200-crore issue as a significant achievement and urged other municipal corporations to consider similar funding options. He also called on urban local bodies to increase their own revenue and reduce their dependence on government funding.
The chief minister said funds raised through municipal bonds and public-private partnership projects should be directed towards revenue-generating ventures so that they can continue to generate returns after loan repayments. The remarks place the bond issue within a wider push to strengthen the financial capacity of city administrations and link infrastructure spending with recurring revenue.
Choudhary also proposed expanding Patna’s Marine Drive from its existing 26-km length to 126 km through a proposed investment of Rs 30,000 crore under the PPP model. He said the existing stretch had taken 13 years to complete using government funds, prompting the state to examine private participation for the proposed expansion.
The address also covered energy, flood management, healthcare and planned urban growth. The chief minister said battery storage systems would be important to reduce the burden of purchasing electricity at varying rates. He said proposed memorandums of understanding during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s expected November 21 visit to Bihar could include battery and pumped storage projects, with potential investments running into lakhs of crores of rupees.
He urged financially well-off households to give up the benefit of 125 units of free electricity and install rooftop solar systems. Under the state’s support programme, households can receive around Rs 98,000 for a 3-kW solar system, while surplus electricity generated by them would be purchased by the government.
For flood management and construction, Choudhary proposed extracting river silt both to generate revenue and to help control flooding, with the material being used in infrastructure projects. He also said the government would examine a brownfield PPP model under which experienced medical professionals could operate newly built medical colleges and hospitals.
The state further highlighted plans for 12 greenfield satellite townships, including Pataliputra Township in Patna, which it said could attract investments of around Rs 5 lakh crore. High-rise buildings would also be encouraged as part of planned urban development. The municipal bond listing and the proposals announced at the event now place greater focus on how Bihar’s cities raise, deploy and repay capital for infrastructure projects.
