June 15, 2014
WB Govt aiming for a SDP growth of 10 per cent
The West Bengal government is aiming for a state domesticproduct (SDP) growth of 10 per cent, twice the economic growth of the entirecountry, according to the finance minister Amit Mitra.
The SDP for West Bengal during 2013-14 was 7.71 per cent.His comments come at a time when the World Bank has scaled down its estimatefor India`s economic growth for this financial year to 5.5 per cent from 5.7per cent projected in April.
“The growth rate of industrial production, agricultureoutput in West Bengal is above the national average. Our nation has seen growthbut without jobs. In West Bengal, both economic growth and job creation aregiven equal importance. The Mamata Banerjee-led government wants growth. Wewant 10 per cent rate of growth in Bengal,” Amit Mitra, also the state`scommerce and industries, and information technology minister, said during hisspeech in a banking seminar organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC).He added the government was actively considering investment proposals fromcorporate houses that will promote growth and create jobs in the state.
Dr Mitra said global food processing firms will set up collectioncentres in the park and source farm products directly from farmers. “Thiswill remove middlemen and ultimately will help farmers,” he said.
The minister also said the state government will also offerfacilities like office space to banks to promote financial inclusion in WestBengal. The government plans to offer300-400 square feet of space at Re 1 permonth to banks to set up their branches in unbanked gram panchayats. Dr Mitrasaid currently there are 742 gram panchayats in West Bengal where bankingservices are not available.
