Mamata plans business meet before UK trip

KOLKATA: To boost the morale of industry in Bengal ahead of her London trip, Mamata Banerjee has asked the chief minister’s office (CMO) to organize a meeting with leading industry bodies and captains at Town Hall in the first week of June. This will be her second foreign trip as the chief minister to attract investment to Bengal.
The basic talking point of the Town Hall meeting will be “ease of doing business in Bengal”.Mamata is also likely take stock of the Rs 2.43 lakh crore worth of investment announced during the Bengal Global Business Summit in January.
It is learnt that industry, IT and MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) departments have already prepared necessary notes for the meeting. Apart from these nodal industry departments, representatives from departments like power, labour, environment, water resources, urban development, fire, irrigation, land and panchayat will be present at the meeting.
“Mamata Banerjee may announce some new policy related to industry in the meeting. She is very keen to see major investment flow into the state,” added another source. Mamata had listened to investors at the Global Bengal Business Summit at Salt Lake stadium in January. She had also shared her thoughts at the plenary session.
The focus sectors identified by the state government include urban infrastructure and housing, IT (software and hardware), food processing, horticulture and floriculture, MSME and textiles, healthcare, education and skills, manufacturing, energy and infrastructure, hospitality and tourism, entertainment and financial services.
Principal secretary of MSME department, Rajiva Sinha, said for more than a year, industry and MSME departments are working on making business environment in the state less complicated. “The basic motive behind the meeting is to ensure that doing business in Bengal becomes easy. That is why all departments that have a role in clearing industrial projects have been called and the CMO is handling the meeting to bring in proper coordination among so many departments,” an official said. He added that commerce and industries minister Amit Mitra is likely to give a presentation at the meeting on what has been done so far.
P Roy, director general of Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), welcomed the development. “It is a very positive step taken by the chief minister,” he added. MCC Chamber of Commerce assistant director-general Subhasis Roy said this step will boost the sentiment of industry. “The CM is doing the right thing. This will go a long way to attract investment in Bengal. The coordination between different departments is very crucial. This is what we need,” he added.
The director-general of Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Rajeev Singh, also felt that it is a very welcome move from the chief minister. “The Centre has done something on this front, but it is the state administration whose role is crucial here,” he added.