Kolkata: State Industry and Commerce minister Shashi Panja urged industrialists not to be bothered about the misconceptions of instability that the Opposition are trying to spread and reiterated that the state is confident to handle those separately.
"Industry looks at stability. When a government comes for the third time with a thumping majority and the same person Mamata Banerjee becomes the Chief Minister, it establishes her credentials and definitely shows there is stability in Bengal. The captains of the industry should not be swayed away by such image-ruining attempts. There are ways to handle them, may be politically," Panja said at the West Bengal State Session of the East India Summit orgnanised by the CII (East).
Speaking on the sidelines, the minister added that the 'misconceptions' that are being spread should not be a deterrent to the perception building about Bengal.
"We are confident that we can handle that (misconceptions) separately. Those trying to do these will not succeed," she added. However, Panja refused to elaborate on the 'misconceptions' that she was referring to.
She called for leveraging the plentiful natural resources, ports, airports, mineral-rich zones, very low operating cost, skilled and unskilled people, richness of the intellect — to enhance the image of Bengal as the next investment destination.
She maintained that Bengal's focus on ethanol production and promotion through its policy in 2021 would look at reducing carbon footprints as well as dependence on the product for manufacturing units.
She added that the tea tourism policy which was drafted in 2013 and amended in 2019 is also the focus of the government to optimise investments in this geography. She further said the sand mining policy drafted by the government will look to regularise brick earth mining.
Panja expressed her keenness to connect with industrialists and investors and sought to meet them for expediting their investment decisions.
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Eastern Region is organising the East India Summit — Creating a Sustainable Infrastructure Roadmap for East — Linking Global Investments, Ports & Multimodal, Logistics & Warehousing, Railways, Satellite Cities, Maritime Manufacturing, Urban Infrastructure & Infrastructure Investment & Finance. The main summit is scheduled for September 12-13 at a star hotel on EM Bypass, Kolkata.