Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said 50 lakh jobs will be created in the state from various industrial, MSME and allied projects that are coming up in the state in the next few years.
Banerjee also directed for prioritising domestic industry in the 6th edition of Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) scheduled on April 20 and 21.
"West Bengal is the future destination for the industry. Our primary target is industrial growth, infrastructure creation and employment generation. In the last 10 years, we got an investment of Rs 4.5 lakh crore. We could not hold BGBS for the last two years due to the pandemic. Although many countries want to attend our summit but are unable to do so due to Covid. So, we should give priority to the domestic industry this time," she said at the State Industrial Promotional Board meeting with heads of industries and Chambers of Commerce at Nabanna. She maintained that the industrialists in the state work in close coordination with industries from outside the state and thus play a key role in bringing captains of industries to invest in Bengal. She urged the industry captains to form small teams among themselves and visit other states as brand ambassadors to promote Bengal as an ideal destination for the industry by sharing their first-hand experience in doing business here.
Banerjee expressed her displeasure over the delay in land allotment in the industrial parks and reiterated that the land allotment process should be completed within two months. "I have heard that often there are delays in allotting land in the industrial plots.
I have received complaints, particularly about the delay in building plan sanction and fire clearance. This would not be tolerated," she added.
The Chief Minister said that 33 private parties have expressed interest in State-Aided Industrial Parks (SAIP) of which 12 have already been approved and the remaining are in process. This will entail a total investment of Rs 31,000 crore and 3.52 lakh job opportunities.
She also expressed her displeasure regarding the mismatch about charging fees for NOCs by different development authorities. "All these development authorities are under the government and they should follow government rules. They cannot charge fees as per their own wish. If they do so, we can merge them with municipalities and corporations," she said.
Banerjee sought suggestions from industries on improving the ease of doing business and urged that some of the principal secretaries have to be much more effective and asked state Chief Secretary H K Dwivedi to take action against those departments who fail to meet deadlines.
Deliberating on the upcoming industrial projects and scopes for investment in various sectors, Banerjee said: "We have some big projects in the pipeline which will change the entire scenario of our state. Our proposed Tajpur greenfield port will transform the maritime sector of India and will have an investment of Rs 15,000 crore. Next, the Deocha Pachami coal mining project will create more than 1 lakh jobs," she said.
The other upcoming major projects that will create jobs include a footwear park on 62 acres in Bantala which is expected to create 5 lakh jobs, informed Banerjee.
"A total of 400 Bangla Dairy outlets have become operational along with four commercial poultry parks. A company from Slovenia has recently shown interest in the manufacturing sector," she added.
Banerjee inaugurated 'Bangla I-Cloud' — an initiative towards paperless governance and the state integrated portal for ease of doing business.
Banerjee, who has coined the name and designed the logo for Bangla I-Cloud said it is a digital locker for all kinds of documents in digital form namely birth and death certificates, ration cards and others. An entrepreneur can access the online services of 15 departments from the integrated portal and thereby save him/her in doing business in a hassle-free manner.
The state will also hold exhibitions to showcase handicrafts, textiles and similar exclusive products of Bengal for promotion and marketing of such items.