President A P J Abdul Kalam will receive a grand welcome when he arrives in Bihar for a three-day visit on Thursday.

"We have taken all steps to ensure that the President's visit is a success. Nothing is being overlooked," a railway official told rediff.com on Wednesday.

Since Bihar is a sensitive state with extremists in various parts, its capital, Patna, has become out-of-bounds for criminals, he said.

Police officials in Patna claim that the city has been 'sanitised' and that there is little cause for worry.

Kalam will lay the foundation stone of a rail coach maintenance workshop in Harnaut, which falls in Railway Minister Nitish Kumar's Barh parliamentary constituency.

The President will also visit Gaya and Nalanda, which is the constituency of Defence Minister George Fernandes.