Bengal gears up for historic biz summit

The areas surrounding Eco Park were brightly illuminated to welcome them.

The guests, who were ferried to the island by boat, included local industry honchos Harsh Neotia, Sanjeev Goenka, Sanjay Budhia and ITC Chairman YC Deveshwar. Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and Bangladesh Commerce Minister also attended the dinner. Mamata managed the impossible – to get bitter political rivals – Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley – who are in the midst of a fierce political battle over corruption in the Delhi and District Cricket Association – to attend. Kejriwal also held a meeting with Mamata Banerjee in a five star hotel.

Chief Minister Banerjee will deliver the welcome address of the meeting at the Milan Mela Ground Friday morning. Union Ministers Arun Jaitley and Suresh Prabhu (Railways) will also address the gathering. Some of the investors from the country and abroad are expected to talk in the first session. Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries Ltd and Sajjan Jindal, Chairman, JSW Group will attend the meeting. British Minister of State for Employment Priti Patel is also expected to attend. Banerjee had laid the foundation stone of Jindal’s cement factory at Salboni on Wednesday. Jindal  has pledged to invest Rs 10,000 crore in various sectors including power.

The summit is likely to witness investment in various areas which include MSME, tourism, urban infrastructure and food processing. In the 2015 Summit, MoUs to the tune Rs 2.43 lakh crore were inked. The state government is likely to announce the total area of land available at Friday’s summit . Banerjee had assured the investors that land would not be a problem and they could procure land to start business.

Senior state government officials said that transport and tourism could be key areas of investment. Water and inland transport may be also a good area to invest. 10 cruise services are already functional and many more are in the offing. The state will also look forward to business groups investing in the monorail in Rajarhat. 

On the eve of the summit, state Finance Minister Amit Mitra said that 4400-acre land was available to set up industry parks.“The state government expects more investment in new sectors in the two day summit,” he added. A MoU between the state government and Government of Bhutan in the transport sector is also on the anvil. MSME is one of the thrust areas of the state government and it will go all out to rope in investors.

Elaborate security arrangements have been put in place around the summit venue and hotels where the guests have been put up. The Commissioner of Police on Thursday held a meeting with senior officers and prepared a detailed blueprint to ensure proper security to visiting dignitaries.