Bengal receives investment proposals worth Rs 55,000 cr on 1st day of BGBS

Kolkata: The first day of Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) held at the Biswa Bangla Convention Centre began with a high note with the state government receiving investment proposals worth Rs 55,000 crore.

RIL managing director Mukesh Ambani said his group will invest another Rs 10,000 crore in Bengal. He said after he had joined the BGBS for the first time in 2016, his company had invested Rs 4,500 crore.

"From then till date, RIL has invested Rs 28,000 crore in Bengal and proposes to invest another Rs 10,000 crore," he maintained. He said all the rural markets in Bengal will be connected by JIO and assured that the Bengal-Reliance partnership will continue for the years to come.

Sajjan Jindal, MD of JSW said the firm had originally planned to set up a steel plant with an investment of Rs 50,000 crore. But had to back out as raw materials could not be sourced and instead started a cement factory where the capacity has been doubled with an estimated investment of another Rs 11,000 crore.

State Finance minister Amit Mitra said the group is considering a proposal to set up a pump storage project, where the estimated investment will be around Rs 6,000 crore.

Y K Modi, director of Aavaran Limited, said his firm will invest Rs 15,000 crore in the seal gas sector in the next few years. He said the state under Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has reached new heights and the problems that often crop up are solved within 24 hours.

"The administration is dynamic and transparent when the bureaucrats can be approached on any issue, which are looked into immediately," he said.

Sanjiv Puri, managing director of ITC said: "ITC's committed investments, with an outlay of Rs 4,000 crore across agriculture, manufacturing and services, are a reality and on the ground. This includes 2 new state-of-the-art mega food processing facilities at Uluberia and Panchla, which are fully operational and running at high capacity within a short span of time. This will support inclusive, sustainable and competitive agri-value chains. ITC's iconic super premium luxury hotel ITC Royal Bengal is nearing completion and in the next few months, we will dedicate it to the people of the City of Joy. The ITC Green Centre and Infotech Park are also in the advanced stages of construction."

"In addition, we propose to make new investments of Rs 1,700 crore in the near future, taking our recent total investments to Rs 5,700 crore, which includes a state-of-the-art FMCG Personal Care Products Manufacturing facility, investments in the décor paper manufacturing facility in Tribeni to substitute imports, expansion of the Dhulagarh facility and others as well as the milk productivity improvement and procurement programme across 300 villages in the state."

Niranjan Hiranandani, a leading industrialist, said his company has proposed to invest Rs 5,000 crore in Bengal. Currently, the firm is into the construction of LPG terminals and pipelines.

Ranjan Bharati Mittal said the first mobile phone by Airtel was launched in Kolkata. His company has proposed investments worth Rs 5,000 crore.

A representative of DP World said that the company is going to invest Rs 3,000 crore in Kulpi Port. The project has been discussed for the past five years. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has welcomed the proposal.