Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday alleged that monumental corruption plagued Jharkhand which was bearing the brunt of migration and lawlessness, and a change in governance was the need of the hour in the state.

Speaking at an event here, Sitharaman said allegations of step-motherly treatment towards Jharkhand were baseless.

“This land of (tribal icon) Birsa Munda with bounties of nature has now become a victim of monumental corruption.... It is also bearing the brunt of migration and lawlessness. And, there is no conducive environment for industries here,” she said.

Eastern India can become the engine of growth for the country with the restoration of industries, Sitharaman said and added anyone “with a little pen was busy extorting money” in lieu of providing sanctions for trade and industries etc.

“There is no business creating environment.... Somebody is doing well in business so I have to extract something ... I have one little pen with which one signature is to be given.... Thousands of signatures are required for setting up a business, but every pen thinks that I have something to take out of this and that perpetrates the monumental corruption which is in Jharkhand,” she said.

Sitharaman added that “blood-sucking leeches at every level supported by political dispensation” were making Jharkhand hollow and a massive scale reformation was needed here. The Union minister said the focus should be on value addition to minerals, as Jharkhand has 40 per cent of the country’s mineral wealth.

“Law and order when improved automatically gets investment, people have faith, and there is collection of revenue,” she said emphasising a “change in governance in Jharkhand is needed for its betterment”.

“Jharkhand used to feature among the top five states in ease-of-doing business. But now, the ‘new jungle raj’ prevails here. The state will attract more investment if law and order improves... Change in governance is the need of the hour in the state,” the minister said.

“The allegations (of the opposition) about step-motherly treatment towards the state by the Prime Minister are baseless. Jharkhand was allocated a record Rs 7,234 crore for rail projects in the 2024-25 budget...The allocation during the earlier regime used to be barely Rs 457 crore,” she said.

Speaking at the interactive session on ‘Eastern India-Engine of Growth for Viksit Bharat’, Sitharaman said some places in the state, including Sahibganj, Santhal Parganas and Godda, were witnessing demographic changes which is a matter of serious concern.

“The demography of Sahibganj, Santhal Parganas and Godda has been changing. It has changed in the last four years which is a matter of serious concern,” she said.

She pointed out that despite Jharkhand contributing 40 per cent of the country’s mineral output, industries were being established elsewhere. She stressed the imperative for establishing industrial units within the state.

“There should be a focus on mineral-based manufacturing because Jharkhand holds a significant share of the country’s mineral wealth, accounting for 40 per cent of all minerals combined. Within that, 28 per cent comprises coal, 26 per cent iron, 25 per cent cobalt, 18 per cent copper, and 6 per cent bauxite. Instead of transporting these minerals elsewhere for processing, manufacturing bases can be established here. I believe the emphasis should be on adding value to these minerals located in Jharkhand,” Sitharaman added.

She added that ₹86,000 crore was collected in the country on account of District Mineral Fund and Jharkhand’s share was ₹12,000 crore while Odisha and Bengal got ₹25,400 and ₹150 crore respectively.

“A total of 24,500 projects have been initiated in Jharkhand through the mineral fund, utilising the ₹12,000 crore allocated. Notably, these funds operate independently of the state budget. Over the past five years, approximately 15,000 projects have been successfully completed,” she said.

Sitharaman emphasised that accusations of stepmotherly treatment from Delhi are unfounded and incorrect.