Bengal nets over Rs 2 lakh cr of investment proposals

Kolkata: The two-day Bengal Global Business Summit organised by the state government has so far received new investment proposals worth Rs 2,19,925 crore, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced here on Wednesday.

Addressing delegates on the concluding day of the meet, Banerjee said 50 per cent of last year's business proposals and that of previous years are "in the process".

"The new investment proposals for this year that we have received is Rs 2,19,925 crore. It may go up also," she said.

The opposition parties in the state -- the Congress, the BJP and the CPI-M -- on Tuesday demanded a White Paper from the government on the number of proposals the state had received in the earlier summits had fructified.

The Chief Minister said: "Whatever we discussed about the business summit, you cannot say that we only discuss or give hope. We talk less, work more.

"Even in last year, of what we discussed, 50 per cent of businesses (proposals) is in process... Earlier also the situation was like this," she said.

According to the state government, the 2015 summit fetched investment proposals of Rs 2.43 lakh crore and the 2016 edition received over Rs 2.5 lakh crore.

Over 2.35 lakh crore of business announcements were received by the state in the last edition of the summit.

Terming the fourth edition of the business summit a successful event, she said 1,040 B2B and 40 B2G meetings were held in the summit and 110 MoUs would be signed.

The next year's summit will be held on February 7 and 8.

Thanking Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani for his Rs 5,000 crore investment proposals in the state, she said more than one lakh crore employments would be created in the particular sectors.

According to her, more than 32 countries and over 4,000 delegates participated in the 2018 edition.

"Your kind presence made the summit successful. Your kind presence is our inspiration and strength. You are our great assets. We are delighted to know about your vision," Banerjee said.

She described the state as the investment destination as it has political stability and is "labour, talent and economic-friendly".

According to her, West Bengal is strategically placed for businesses for Asean countries including neighbouring countries of Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan and northeastern states of India.

"Bengal deserves to be global industrial hub," she told delegates at the summit.

"We are the united family and cosmopolitan family. There is no differences between the caste, creed. Tolerance is the key. If you don't tolerate the people, you would not get the result," she reiterated.