Nalandaनालंदा
28.8 lakh people. Larger than Jamaica, Armenia, or Bahrain. Governed as one cell of one state.
- Population
- 28,77,653 (28.8 lakh)
- Area
- 2,367 km²
- Headquarters
- Bihar Sharif
₹5,602 cr
of bankable business potential identified by the government in Nalanda.
Source: NABARD PLP 2023-24
Opportunities
What you can build here
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NABARD's plan for Nalanda · PLP 2023-24
₹5,602 crof bankable credit potential identified by the government
MSME
₹2,303 cr
Crop production, maintenance & marketing
₹1,351 cr
Term loans for agriculture & allied activities
₹897 cr
Agriculture infrastructure
₹316 cr
Nalanda's NABARD credit plan for 2023-24 sees about ₹5,602 crore of lending potential. Just over half of that, ₹2,865 crore, is farming and allied work, while small and medium businesses (MSME) account for ₹2,303 crore (₹1,802 cr for machinery and setup, ₹500 cr for working capital). The rest is spread across housing, education, social infrastructure and rural energy.
The single biggest opportunity is crop lending at ₹1,351 crore, powered by the district's standout potato crop of nearly 887 MT grown on about 24,330 hectares. That makes potato processing units and cold stores an obvious opening. On the livestock side, dairy leads at ₹228 crore, followed by farm machinery at ₹221 crore, poultry at ₹101 crore and fisheries at ₹56 crore. Nalanda also has a proud handloom cluster of around 300 weavers making the award-winning bawan booti and sujni saree, plus local sweet 'khaja', brass work and tourism around Rajgir and Nalanda. NABARD has backed 15 farmer producer groups and a fish producer company, and the district sits inside Bihar's organic corridor.
The plan's own biggest worry is storage: there is a serious shortage of warehouses, cold stores and processing units, with no proper storage for wheat, paddy or maize. It also flags that dairy, poultry and fisheries are under-performing versus their potential, and that farmers battle drought, falling groundwater and poor soil. Banks and departments are urged to spread awareness so scheme and Mudra-loan benefits actually reach people.
What the plan promotes
- Potato is the district's flagship crop: about 886.99 MT produced over roughly 24,330 hectares, opening large scope for processing units and cold storage (crop production line alone is ₹1351.19cr).
- Dairy is the biggest allied term-loan opportunity at ₹227.68cr; village households treat cattle as an ATM, alongside sheep and goat rearing.
- Farm mechanisation potential of ₹220.56cr, driven by power tillers, threshers, zero-till drills and solar pumps subsidised under state agriculture schemes.
- NABARD has promoted 15 Farmer Producer Organisations working mainly on cash crops, mushroom and honey, plus a dedicated fish producer company.
- Fisheries and poultry are widely practised: ~200 farmers trained in biofloc fish farming; poultry potential ₹101.25cr and fisheries ₹56.44cr.
- Handloom cluster of about 300 weavers producing the UNESCO Seal of Excellence-winning bawan booti and sujni saree, run with Ministry of Textiles support.
Gaps the plan names
- Severe shortage of warehouses, cold storage and processing units across the district, despite the range of local produce; existing units need to be scaled up.
- No suitable storage available for staples like wheat, paddy and maize, so there is large scope to build godowns under the central Agriculture Infrastructure Fund.
- Performance in animal husbandry (dairy, poultry, sheep-goat) and fisheries lags the assessed potential, needing new-livestock loans plus KCC push.
- Agriculture infrastructure and agro-processing potential shown in the PLP is not being realised on the ground, so ground-level credit uptake stays low.
- Farmers face repeated drought, groundwater over-extraction, worsening soil health, poor water quality and low productivity, with the district rated high on CRIDA's vulnerability index.
See the plan's recommendations
What the plan promotes
- Potato is the district's flagship crop: about 886.99 MT produced over roughly 24,330 hectares, opening large scope for processing units and cold storage (crop production line alone is ₹1351.19cr).
- Dairy is the biggest allied term-loan opportunity at ₹227.68cr; village households treat cattle as an ATM, alongside sheep and goat rearing.
- Farm mechanisation potential of ₹220.56cr, driven by power tillers, threshers, zero-till drills and solar pumps subsidised under state agriculture schemes.
- NABARD has promoted 15 Farmer Producer Organisations working mainly on cash crops, mushroom and honey, plus a dedicated fish producer company.
- Fisheries and poultry are widely practised: ~200 farmers trained in biofloc fish farming; poultry potential ₹101.25cr and fisheries ₹56.44cr.
- Handloom cluster of about 300 weavers producing the UNESCO Seal of Excellence-winning bawan booti and sujni saree, run with Ministry of Textiles support.
Gaps the plan names
- Severe shortage of warehouses, cold storage and processing units across the district, despite the range of local produce; existing units need to be scaled up.
- No suitable storage available for staples like wheat, paddy and maize, so there is large scope to build godowns under the central Agriculture Infrastructure Fund.
- Performance in animal husbandry (dairy, poultry, sheep-goat) and fisheries lags the assessed potential, needing new-livestock loans plus KCC push.
- Agriculture infrastructure and agro-processing potential shown in the PLP is not being realised on the ground, so ground-level credit uptake stays low.
- Farmers face repeated drought, groundwater over-extraction, worsening soil health, poor water quality and low productivity, with the district rated high on CRIDA's vulnerability index.
Value-chain gaps
Money this district loses today
Raw output sold cheap, value added elsewhere — each gap below is an opening for a local business.
Resources
What this district has
Tap a category to see the facts and figures underneath. Numbers marked unverified are AI-extracted and need a sourcing pass.
About Nalanda
Nalanda district is one of the thirty-eight districts of the state of Bihar in India. Bihar Sharif is the administrative headquarters of this district. The districts is home to the ancient Nalanda Mahavihara a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Nalanda is located in the Magadh region of southern Bihar.
Source: Wikipedia — Nalanda district
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