The West Bengal government claimed on Thursday that it had bagged investment commitments worth Rs 2,43,000 crore from the two-day Bengal Global Business Summit.
The Centre helped the Mamata Banerjee government considerably on the opening day, with Steel Authority of India announcing a Rs 40,000-crore investment, though subject to approval from its board of directors.
Around Rs 12,000 crore of the Bengal figure is on account of Sagar Port.
On the concluding day, the major investment intent came from city-based real estate developers, together proposing 22 townships, entailing an investment of Rs 72,600 crore. The interest in developing these stemmed from a recent policy move of the state government. The land reforms Act was amended to include real estate development in the exempted category.
“Most of this land was privately bought by real estate developers and is already with them. So, these projects will definitely come up,” one of the developers said.
The Essel group also plans to invest Rs 15,000 crore in developing smart cities, a mono rail and waste management.
An exuberant chief minister summed up the business summit as darun (excellent). “This is the milestone for tomorrow. We have got so many EOIs (expressions of intent) and LOIs (letters of intent). Given the constraints, the Bengal government's performance is number one in the world,” she said.
Then, Banerjee apologised to the investors. “Forget the past, I apologise for the past. I am sorry. Look to the future,” she said.
The apology was for the financial mismanagement of the predecessor Left Front government, Banerjee clarified later when journalists asked. “We have to carry the legacy of the previous government. It’s because of their financial indiscipline and no plan of action that we have to suffer. Because of the huge financial burden, we are constrained in helping industry. So, I apologise to industry for the deeds of the past government,” she said.
In her concluding speech, Banerjee said she could not give investors Special Economic Zones with special industry-friendly business and trade laws due to “political compulsions” but would try to get them tax breaks from the central government. The government’s opposition to SEZs had, in fact, kept Infosys from setting up a campus in the state.
How much of the investments announced at the summit would fructify is difficult to tell. However, an industrialist pointed out, the fact that the Centre and state shared the dais to address investors was a relief. “At least, the summit conveyed an important political message to investors,” he said.
