KOLKATA: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee claimed that the state has received investment proposals worth Rs 2.20 lakh crore in the two-day Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) as a result of which over 20 lakh jobs would be created in the state over the next few years.
Speaking at the concluding session of the summit at Biswa Bangla Convention Centre here on Wednesday, the West Bengal chief minister termed the summit an astounding success and claimed that over 110 MoUs were signed during the event.
“We have received investment proposals worth Rs 2,19,925 lakh crore as a result of which 20 lakh jobs will be created in the state. Over 1040 B2B and 40 B2G meetings were held after which 110 MoUs were signed. Investment of Mukhesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) will create over one lakh jobs in telecom sector alone,” she said.
She also claimed that half of the investment proposals of the previous BGBS editions were in the process. The state government claimed that West Bengal had received investment proposals of Rs 2.43 lakh crore in 2015, Rs 2.5 lakh crore in 2016 and Rs 2.35 lakh crore in 2017 editions of BGBS. “We talk less and work more. West Bengal is turning into ‘Best Bengal’. The state has a peaceful political environment and we would extend our support to the investors,” she added.
Just after her announcement, Adani Wilmar (Adani Group constituent) MD Pranav Adani announced that the group will invest Rs 750 crore in port, power and agricultural sectors and also replicate Mundra port of Gujarat in West Bengal. “Given the strategic location of West Bengal connecting south-east Asia and northeast India, we want to revolutionise
the port scenario in the state. We have already created 4,500 direct and indirect jobs and doubled our capacity at Haldia oil refinery,” he said.
"The summit was highly successful with big names like Mukesh Ambani, L N Mittal, Sajjan Jindal, Uday Kotak, Pranav Adani, N Hiranandani, Kishore Biyani, Pranab Adani and local industrialists like Sanjiv Goenka, Harsh Neotia attending it," Banerjee said.
This year's Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) saw participation from 32 countries with nine of them being partners. The next edition will be held on February 7 and 8, 2019.
Major business groups which announced investments at the summit included Reliance Industries, Adani Group, JSW group, Adventz group and RP-Sanjiv Goenka group.
There was, however, no representation from the central government at the BGBS this year.
Union minister Nitin Gadkari, who was scheduled to attend the meet, chose to stay away following alleged attack on the BJP rally by ruling Trinamool Congress activists on January 12. After the incident, state BJP president Dilip Ghosh had stated that Gadkari will not attend the summit.
Banerjee said 50 per cent of the investment proposals made at the last year's event were already in progress.
She said Bengal was the new investment destination now because of political stability, industry-friendly environment and also because of its strategic location.
In an oblique criticism of the BJP, she said that the state was tolerant and no discrimination was done in respect to caste, creed and religion.
"If you can tolerate everyone, then everything can be done," she said.
Top industrialists heaped praise on her with India's richest man Mukesh Ambani calling it nothing short of a "miracle" that the state has adopted a change in mindset to welcome industry.
"Didi, under your leadership, West Bengal will be the best Bengal," Ambani had said yesterday.
Mitra said the state government, in the course of the two-day summit, also announced logistics park development promotion policy, export promotion policy and RoRo operation promotion policy.
Ratnabali group would set up an autism therapy centre outside the city at a cost of Rs 600 crore which was a first in the country, he said.
Multinational companies including Dassult, Aramco, Dubai Multi Commodity Center, Samsung Pepsi Co Covestro, Chemixil have expressed business interest in Bengal, a government statement said.
(With Express News Service inputs)