Investment proposals worth over Rs 3.76 lakh crore received: Mamata

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that the state government has received investment proposals worth over Rs 3.76 lakh crore in the 7th edition of the two-day Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) that concluded on Wednesday.

“Bengal Global Business Summit, in its 7th edition in 2023, has come to an end today (Wednesday) with fabulous pledges for investments in Bengal from captains of industry. In total, a sum of Rs 376288 crore has been the investment promise made by the international and national business persons present in the Summit. 188 Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) and Letter of Intent (LoI) have been signed and a large number of new industrial policies for creating an enabling environment have been announced. The two-day Summit has been a stupendous success,” Banerjee said addressing the valedictory session of the BGBS at Dhono Dhanya Auditorium in Alipore.

The investment proposals received during the current edition have surpassed that of the previous year’s BGBS in which investment proposals worth Rs 3.42 lakh crore were received.

Banerjee further maintained that the event was a truly globally participatory one, being attended by 400 international delegates, representatives from 17 partner countries, business and official delegations from nearly 40 countries and 15 Ambassadors and High Commissioners from different countries.

Banerjee accused the central government of unleashing central probe agencies on the industrialists. “The state and the Centre have different political parties in power. But I feel that both should work together for the development of the people. One thing I cannot accept ... Why are our industrialists leaving India? Why should they be apprehensive of the central agencies? The agencies are being used to stifle the industrialists. I want the industrial area to be clean and green,” she added.

She pointed out that the geographical location of Bengal makes it the gateway to the North East and several neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. “Singapore, Bangkok and Malaysia are also not far from Bengal in terms of connectivity. Bengal will be the powerhouse of the economy in the coming days and so it is the future destination for investment,” she remarked.

Sanjeev Puri, director, ITC, who is also the co-chair of agriculture sector in Bengal said that 93 MoUs were signed in the Agri and Allied sector which will entail an investment of Rs 1014 crores.

Harshvardhan Neotia, co-chair of the education sector, said that 13 MoUs have been signed in the area of higher education and school education in the state. It involves an investment of Rs 1676 crore in school education and Rs 3060 crore in higher education.

Australia’s Consul General in Kolkata, Rowan Ainsworth and Spain’s Cultural Councilor Guillermo Martin Senderos discussed how to create an investment area by making their country culturally compatible with Bengal. This is the first time that the creative economy has been included in BGBS.

Filmmaker Goutam Ghose, co-chair of the creative economy said: “The state government is helping folk artists a lot but we need to improve in many areas in all fields from publishing to the film industry. West Bengal is a paradise for filmmaking. I believe many filmmakers from outside will come to West Bengal. I have worked in many parts of the world. In this industry, many graphic artists are from West Bengal.”