"The people of Bihar have always been treated with respect in Maharashtra. This festival has been organised to strengthen the ties between the people of Maharashtra and Bihar," he said.

The celebrations started with the singing of 'Jai Jai Maharashtra Majha', a popular Marathi language song praising Maharashtra.

Kickstarting his speech in Marathi, Nitish Kumar praised Maharashtra and said: "Marathi is a sweet language and I would like to learn it."

"I will take lessons for the same," he said as he spoke about his affection towards Maharashtrian culture.

Nitish Kumar earlier met corporate leaders and urged them to take advantage of the industrial policy announced by his government in 2011.

He said that the industrial policy announced by the Bihar government focused on areas like agro-based industries, power, food-processing, tourism, IT, technical and higher education, super specialty hospitals, electronics, non-conventional sources of energy and hardware.

Stating that Bihar was now a developed state, Nitish Kumar urged the industry captains to invest in Bihar as it had industry-friendly offers.

He arrived in Mumbai Saturday to take part in the centenary celebrations of 'Bihar Diwas' in the city.

His visit had sparked a controversy last week as Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray opposed it. Later, Thackeray softened his stand saying he had no objection to a socio-cultural celebration of Bihar Day.

Shiv Sena Supremo Bal Thackeray on the other hand derided his nephew for opposing Nitish Kumar's Mumbai visit and then backtracking. He termed Raj's flip-flop as an attempt to get public attention.

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