Bengal woos France for investments

A high level French delegation led by Nicole Fontaine, minister of industry, power and information technology today took stock of the industrial scenario in West Bengal.

Apart from meeting the chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and governor Viren J Shah, the 18 member delegation also paid visit to Somnath Chatterjee, chairman, West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC).

"We have sought French expertise in areas like petrochemicals, food processing and information technology. WBIDC showed them a presentation on the industrial scenario of West Bengal in French," Chatterjee told the media.

The meeting at WBIDC was attended by heads of all major chambers of Kolkata, viz. Sanjay Budhia, regional chairman of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), S K Chakraborty, president Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BNCCI) and Biswadip Gupta, president of Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BCCI).

When asked if the delegation which comprised of businessmen from the field of environment and communication made a specific investment proposal for the state, Chatterjee said it was too early to comment.

"We will have regular interaction with them. We are expecting a feedback from them shortly," Chatterjee said.

The industry also sought French expertise in areas of environment, floriculture, iron and steel among others.