'Can't farmers choose their livelihoods too?'

Q&A/ Prasoon Mukherjee

The last few months have been fraught with unwanted limelight for Prasoon Mukherjee who, as chairman of Universal Success, is the Indian partner of the Salim Group which is at the centre of a political storm.

Though his SEZ project in West Bengal has kicked up a huge storm, Mukherjee draws on his experience with investments in Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Singapore and Thailand to explain why the situation is not irretrievable. Excerpts from a conversation with Nistula Hebbar:

Your SEZ project in West Bengal has sparked off a lot of protest on the issue of land acquisitions.

Land acquisition is always a tricky subject. It never happens overnight, not even in China where dissent is not given as much airtime as it is here. So we always knew when we started that this would be a problem.

But the key to this is to convince land owners that they have a stake in development, that ultimately they too will benefit from the industry that will get set up and the employment opportunities.

Having said that, in the context of West Bengal, let me make it very clear, despite perceptions to the contrary, my company had no choice in the land earmarked for our SEZ. We were told that this is the land and it would be up to us to develop whatever infrastructure we needed. Our attraction to West Bengal is more to do with the huge pool of English-speaking graduates there and the human resource-pull rather than the land specifically.

How will you convince someone who is losing his land that it is for his benefit?

First of all, we are going to give it time. We are also going to participate in the process of convincing people that they too have a stake in it. We have a saying in Bangla, that a chaasha chele (farmer's son) does not want to remain one all his life.

The Opposition does not see that farmers too have the right to a livelihood of their choosing, of availing better infrastructure. Not just that, seeing is believing. When people see roads, bridges and other things coming up they will get convinced.

For example, my company has built a 103 kilometre stretch of road linking the Kolkata airport to the Haldia port, also a 3.5 kilometre bridge along the same route. Everyone uses it and people are amazed that this kind of investment is pouring into the state.

Unlike other business houses, we are not waiting for land or assets to be handed on a platter before we pour in any money. The West Bengal formula for SEZ is also different and better than the rest of the states'. While other states allow 75 per cent of the land for real estate development, my SEZ project has been allowed only a net of 30-35 per cent land for real estate.

You are also partners with Unitech in West Bengal. How has your experience investing in a communist-ruled state been?

Most Indian political outfits are left of centre, and are not entirely comfortable with capital, but chief ministers from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and other states have met me too. The point here is that investment is a politico-economic need and the Left is no different, they too need capital for development.

The change in the CPI(M)'s mindset hasn't come about overnight. It is dictated by the realities of the economy just as the Narasimha Rao reforms in 1991 were. Not just here, communists in China, Vietnam and even Cuba are changing, so what is the fuss all about? I don't see how communists are any different in using investments. The state chief minister has made it very clear that capital is welcome.

How do you find the investment climate in West Bengal?

When Bengal Unitech first entered the state four years ago, even a five-acre development was being hailed as path breaking; there was a fear in investing in the state thanks to the old communist regime and the labour and infrastructure problems.

Right now our holdings in the state are over 9,000 acres and others are also investing. It seems like Bengal Unitech has opened the floodgates. As a Bengali, I have sentimental reasons as well for investing, but apart from that, it is a good state, resource rich with high human resource capital to recommend it. The state needs the investment and the government is cognizant of this.

Are you going to bid for the new Kolkata airport?

Yes, my company will be bidding for the greenfield project. We are definitely in the fray.

Much has been made of your partner Salim Group's anti-communist past.

Yes. Strangely the noise has been created by anti-communist political parties, not the CPI(M). I'd like to say that Salims were businessmen like any other. Thirty years ago, Indonesia was like West Bengal, in dire need of investment and development.

The group was one of the many which stepped in with their businesses. They are non-political and should be given the benefit of that. Just because they happen to be related to a particular political family is not enough reason to reject their business.

Apart from West Bengal which are the other areas where you are expanding now?

I am interested in investing in certain ventures in Russia. I deal in crude oil, therefore Russia is an important destination for me. China is also important as the investment climate there is attractive. Real estate and hospitatlity are also our core competency areas and the sectors are booming in India. We are also looking at the social sector.

What in the social sector?

Well, Benny Santoso (partner in the Salim group) and I were struck by a CNN documentary on human trafficking in India and we want to set up a way in which some interventions are possible.

As a Bengali I have grown up on stories on the hazardous lives of those who live in the Sunderbans. I would like to do something for those attacked by tigers. As of now we are involved in the welfare of Thalassemia patients.

Finally, there is a lot of talk that the protests and violence have convinced you to withdraw from West Bengal.

Absolutely not, we are here to stay. I don't regret investing in the state in spite of the fact that so much violence and protest has been triggered off. Other state chief ministers "" of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand "" have approached us but we are staying the course in Bengal, not just because I am a Bengali but also because the state is a good business opportunity.

I feel that what the present government is doing is right for the state. The state badly needs an infusion of investment. This is not only a sentimental decision but one borne out by hard facts. I feel if we are patient, people will see our point of view.