Industry captains suggest measures to fuel Bengal's growth

Kolkata, Jan 8 (IANS) Industry captains at the Bengal Global Business Summit Thursday said West Bengal had the potential to become an industrially advanced state, and came out with suggestions ranging from better marketing to focusing on key sectors like defence and automobiles.

Participating in breakaway sessions on various sectors like manufacturing, healthcare, tourism, industry captains and government officials also enumerated the various proposals received during the summit that saw participation of delegates from 20 countries including India.

Tractors India Pvt. Ltd chairman Sumit Mazumdar, who co-chaired the session on manufacturing, called for better marketing of the state with emphasis on defence, railways, and automobiles.

"There are not many large industries in Bengal. There is an urgent need to attract foreign direct investment and to do that we need to market the state in a better way.

"Besides, there is an urgent need to focus on key sectors like defence, railways, automobile and auto components," Mazumdar said after the session.

With Bengal being one of the largest markets in India for food processing, ITC executive director Kurush Grant, who chaired the session on the sector, called for declaring as primarily agricultural produce animal husbandry, poultry and fisheries.

Besides a dairy policy, he also suggested setting up a holistic agricultural value chain under one body for all agro food products.

He said that during the summit, 16 memoranda of understanding (MoU) were signed with a cumulative investment of Rs.1,600 crore in the sector.

Harsh Lodha, who chaired the session on healthcare and education, said proposals to the tune of Rs.2,700 crore were received for the healthcare sector in the state that will generate an employment of nearly 9,000.

The proposals also include an MoU by SingHealth - Singapore's largest group of healthcare institutions.

Lodha said proposals amounting to Rs.1,438 crore were received in the education and skill development sectors, which include MoUs by the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and Microsoft Corporation.

State Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim said 22 proposals entailing investment of about Rs.72,400 crore have come in urban infrastructure and housing sectors, including more than 25,000 housing units for the economically weaker sections (EWS).

"More than 1,74,000 jobs will be generated by these projects," claimed Hakim, adding that a feasibility study was being done for developing two growth corridors -- Kolkata-Siliguri and Kolkata-Raghunathpur.

Calcutta Chamber of Commerce president R.K. Chhajer, who presided over the session on MSME sector, called for a process of pre-hand credit rating of small and micro enterprises enabling them easier financial assistance.

Chajjer said investment to the tune of Rs.10,000-15,000 crore have been received for the sector which will generate employment of nearly a lakh in the next three years.

In the tourism sector, proposed projects of Rs.1,850 crore have been made with stakeholders calling for development of infrastructure and easing out visa formalities to attract more investment.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed the state has attracted a financial commitment exceeding Rs.2.4 lakh crore which will generate more than a crore job opportunities.

"Don't underestimate Bengal... Yesterday and today, it (financial commitment) is about Rs.2,43,000 crore," she said.