West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday took a dig at the opposition for tarnishing state's image. The chief minister also stated that her state was an example of tranquillity and good governance. "Bengal has enviable record of good law & order; false narrative of political violence being spun by some political parties," she stated, news agency PTI reported.
CM Banerjee introduced a series of new policies on Tuesday, including ambitions to increase the state's exports, modernise its logistics, and encourage renewable energy production, when kicking off the Bengal Global Business Summit in Kolkata. Banerjee also announced a biofuels policy and a new subsea cable landing station in Digha, a seaside resort, to aid increase internet access in the eastern area.
The chief minister also stated that the state's economy was increasing at an 8.41 percent annual rate and that GDP will reach USD 212 billion this fiscal year. West Bengal was placed sixth among Indian states in terms of GDP in a recent Forbes India study.
She also told a star-studded audience of business leaders, including petrochemicals tycoon Mukesh Ambani, energy tycoon Sanjeev Goenka, and Wipro's Rishad Premji, that four new industrial corridors would be established in north Bengal, including Dankuni-Kalyani, Tajpur port-Raghunathpur, Dankuni-Jhargram, and Durgapur-Cooch Behar.
Dankuni, the largest logistics centre in eastern India, already has 9 km of conveyor belts to transport commodities to and from storage silos, according to her former finance minister and senior top advisor Amit Mitra.
The Bengal Global Business Summit is an annual event attended by several hundred firms from 17 countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Korea, Japan, Germany, and France.
Banerjee emphasised that the state was home to 90 lakh MSME units employing 1.3 crore people, as well as a large leather manufacturing complex that was being expanded to be the Asian continent's largest, as well as one of the country's largest IT hubs.
According to Banerjee, the state's Durga Puja festival economy generated more than Rs 80,000 crore this year.
She also announced that former India cricket captain-turned-businessman Sourav Ganguly will be the state's brand ambassador.
During his speech, Reliance Industries chairman and MD Mukesh Ambani pledged an extra Rs 20,000 crore investment for West Bengal over the next three years.
Ambani stated that the new investments will be made in digital life solutions, retail, and bio-energy.
"We plan to invest an additional Rs 20,000 crore in West Bengal in the next three years for enhancing digital life solutions, augmenting Reliance Retail footprint and on bio-energy," he said.
According to Ambani, Reliance Industries has invested around Rs 45,000 crore in the state in the previous several years.
"Reliance will leave no stone unturned to accelerate Bengal's growth," he asserted.
The Reliance Foundation will also take up the task of renovating and restoring the iconic Kalighat Temple in Kolkata to regain its "original glory", Ambani added.
Wipro Chairman Rishad Premji added, "West Bengal provides the right policy environment for expansion of IT industries." RPG's Sanjeev Goenka told the gathering that his firm has invested Rs 25,000 crore in the state over the last few years as "decision making has been quick and efficient" and that the era of "go slows, strikes and unrest are of the past... the CM wants business".