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West Bengal expects the Bengal Global Business Summit to generate investments to the tune of Rs 93,000 crore.
A major chunk of the investment will come from public-sector major SAIL, which plans to invest Rs 40,000 crore in the state by 2025. Addressing the two-day summit, which started in Kolkata on Wednesday, SAIL chairman C S Verma said investment in the state would be doubled.
SAIL has already invested around Rs 18,000 crore in the state as part of its expansion and modernisation programme. The investment for 2025, however, is subject to the company’s board approval.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the state government cleared a 3,900-acre land hurdle for SAIL on Tuesday. She, however, did not specify the location.
Port projects accounted for another Rs 16,000 crore. The rest would come from different projects, Banerjee said.
Business participants from outside West Bengal included R Seshasayee, non-executive vice-chairman of Ashok Leyland; Naina Lal Kidwai, country head of HSBC India; Rana Kapoor, managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of YES Bank; N Chandrasekaran, CEO and MD of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS); Jyotsna Suri, chairperson of Bharat Hotels; Swati Piramal, vice-chairperson, Piramal Enterprises; Niranjan Hiranandani, co-founder, Hiranandani group; and Adi Godrej, chairman of Godrej Group. There were delegates from 20 countries. Chandrasekharan said TCS has 27,000 employees and the staff strength will increase to 40,000 in the next 24 months
Hiranandani said an offshore liquefied natural gas terminal would be set up 100 km from the West Bengal coast, while ITC chairman Y C Deveshwar said Rs 3,000 crore in West Bengal was in various stages of implementation.
“Investment will flow only to states that are competitive,” cautioned Deveshwar.
Seeking investment for the state, Banerjee said land would not be an issue as 7,000 acre is available, of which 3,700 acre in industrial parks is ready to be used.
