SME Times News Bureau | 18 Jan, 2018
The two-day
"Bengal Global Business Summit 2018" organised by the state
government has received new investment proposals worth Rs 2,19,925 crore, which
is less than last year by about Rs 15,000 crore, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee
announced here on Wednesday.
Addressing delegates on the concluding day of the meet, she said 50 per cent of
last year's business proposals and those of previous years were "in the
process" of implementation.
"The new investment proposals for this year that we have received is about
Rs 2, 19,925 crore. It may go up also," she said.
The state's opposition parties - the Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and
the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) - had on Tuesday demanded a white
paper from the government on the number of proposals the state had received in
the earlier summits and those that had fructified.
Banerjee on Wednesday said: "Whatever we discussed about the business
summit... you cannot say that we only discuss or give hopes. We talk less, work
more.
"Even last year, of what we discussed, 50 per cent of the businesses
(proposals) are in process... Earlier also, the situation was like this."
State Finance and Industries Minister Amit Mitra told reporters that of the
total investment proposals, the manufacturing and infrastructure sector netted
investment commitments of Rs 1,56,811 crore, "which is significant".
Among other major sectors, the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) and
textiles attracted business proposals of Rs 52,952 crore, hospitality and
tourism got Rs 1,483 crore, IT &ITes Rs 1,146 crore, animal resource, food
processing, fisheries and agribusiness Rs 1,518 crore and health, education and
skill development got Rs 6,015 crore worth of proposals.
According to the state government, the 2015 summit fetched investment proposals
worth Rs 2.43 lakh crore and the 2016 edition over Rs 2.5 lakh crore.
Business announcements worth over Rs 2.35 lakh crore were received by the state
in the last edition of the summit.
Terming the fourth edition of the business summit a "successful
event", Mitra said 1,046 B2B and 40 B2G meetings were held in the summit
and, in all, 110 MoUs was signed.
"The perceptional change about Bengal was visible from the participation
of delegates from India and abroad who expressed their business interest in the
state," he said.
As many as 350 international delegations from 32 countries including Japan,
Italy, Poland, Korea, Czech Republic, Germany, Britain, France and UAE and over
4,000 delegates participated in the fourth edition of Bengal Global Business
Summit held at the sprawling Biswa Bangla International Convention Centre at
New Town, Rajarhat here.
Foreign delegates from Korea, China, Germany, Italy and other countries have
shown interest in the manufacturing sector, Banerjee said.
"Your kind presence made the summit successful. Your kind presence is our
inspiration and strength. You are our great assets. We are delighted to know
about your vision," she said.
Thanking Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani for his Rs 5,000 crore
investment proposals, she said the investments would create a large number of
employment opportunities in the state.
"If you calculate all together, with whatever business proposals we have
received, employment for more than 20 lakh people will be created,"
Banerjee said, adding that industries and agriculture were growing hand-in-hand
in the state.
Mitra said new policies - Logistic Park Development and Promotion Policy, Export
Promotion Policy, RoRo Operation policy - were unveiled during the summit to
provide an enabling framework.
According to him, Dassault Systems signed off with Indian Chamber of Commerce
for setting up a design centre while Apparel Export Promotion Council announced
the setting up a skill development centre.
Uber and Ola signed pacts with the state Transport Department to increase
employment opportunities for the youth.
Among big ticket MoUs is signing of pact between state government and Poland's
Silesian region and state Power Department inked agreement with GIZ (Germany)
towards an Energy Action Plan for the state.
State-run Jadavpur University signed three MoUs for collaboration in various
fields with Exeter University, Edinburgh University and Eotvos Lorand
University. City-based Presidency University too inked pact with Edinburgh
University in the area of higher education and Life Sciences.
The Chief Minister described the state as "the investment
destination", as it had political stability and labour, talent and a
business-friendly environment.
According to her, West Bengal is strategically placed for businesses for Asean
countries, including neighbouring countries of Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan and
the northeastern states of India.
"Bengal deserves to be a global industrial hub," she told delegates
at the summit.
"We are a united and cosmopolitan family. There are no differences on
caste and creed. Tolerance is the key. If you don't tolerate people, you would
not get the results," she said.
Banerjee also announced that national carrier Air India would commence its
services from the Greenfield airport at Andal near Durgapur in the state to
Delhi from January 28.
The next year's summit will be held on February 7 and 8. "Next year, one
day will be dedicated to the world business summit and the other day for
conclaves," Banerjee said.