The West Bengal government envisages domestic and foreign investments worth Rs 18,000 crore for development of the power sector. The investment will be made in the state, private and joint sectors.
Chief minister Jyoti Basu yesterday told the state assembly that the government had received financial assistance from the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF) of Japan for the first unit of the Bakreswar thermal power station. Negotiations are currently on to obtain the OECFs assistance for construction of two other units, he said.
Replying to the four-day debate on the thanksgiving motion on the Governors address, Basu said the performance of the West Bengal State Electricity Board has declined compared to the previous year. Referring to the ongoing controversy between the board and the National Thermal Power Corporation over payment of dues, the Chief Minister said he would discuss the issue with the Union government when he visits Delhi.
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Basu complained that the Congress (I) was trying to frustrate the states industrialisation programme. He accused the party of agitating for jobs for their workers in areas where entrepreneurs were setting up new units. Pointing out that these agitations frequently turned violent, he urged the Congress (I) not to create trouble and tarnish the image of the state.
The chief minister said that the state government envisaged an investment of Rs 21,000 crore in new projects in the state. Projects worth around Rs 1,198 crore were currently being implemented, he claimed.
Listing the major investors in West Bengal, he mentioned Marubeni, Mitsubishi, ACC and Paharpur Fertiliser.
Basu indirectly criticised the Centre for its uncooperative attitude towards the Haldia petrochemical project, saying the state government had finally been able to clear it after a long battle of 15 years. Work for the project, estimated at Rs 5,170 crore, has just been started, he added.
Basu said West Bengal which had long been shunned by industrialists due to the policies of the Centre was now being able to attract their attention. Many big industrialists had offered to invest having been satisfied with the present investment climate.
The chief minister said the previous Congress (I) government had tried to close down some major Central sector units which became sick due to lack of attention. Among them were Tyre Corporation of India, Cycle Corporation of India, Mining and Allied Machinery Corporation and Jessop and Company.
The state government had discussed their problems with the new government and it had assured that no unit would be shut down.
Basu said the problem of the jobless was a national one and about 300 million people remained jobless in the country according to the last years figures. The situation in the state, however, was no better, he said.
To solve the problem, the state government, he said, had fixed a target of providing self-employment to around 500,000 people this year.
Already 50 per cent of the target had been achieved. The government is having discussions with the Reserve Bank of India governor for speedy sanction of loans for self employment schemes, he added.