February 7, 2019
Captains of industry praise Bengal and Didi at BGBS 2019
The Bengal Global Business Summit today opened to a full house of some of the biggest business-owners from India and many business leaders from across the world. Those from India represented the cream of the business community here.
Here are the highlights of the speeches of the Indian delegates present on stage at the grand opening ceremony:
Sanjeev Goenka: We have invested Rs 23,000 crore in Bengal. It has been a fruitful investment. Mamata Banerjee’s leadership is clear, she is a visionary. Bengal is in business, Bengal means business. Come and invest in Bengal.
Mukesh Ambani: Joy Bangla, Joy Biswa Bangla. Kolkata is not only the City of Joy but also the City of Hope. It has witnessed tremendous growth in one year. I had said last year that under Mamata Banerjee’s leadership, West Bengal is becoming ‘Best Bengal’. This has indeed come true. The GDP in Bengal is growing at the fastest rate among all the States in India.
Today our investment stands at Rs 28,000 crore in West Bengal alone, which is one-tenth of our investment in India. We have planned a further investment of Rs 10,000 crore.
West Bengal is poised to become the logistics hub of the east. It will employ 50,000 people with an investment of Rs 5,000 crore. Reliance provides employment to 1,00,000 people in West Bengal.
Under your leadership, Mamata Didi, Bengal has become a rising glory.
Sajjan Jindal: I have not seen elsewhere the kind of love and excitement that people of Bengal have. Mamata Banerjee is passionate about development. She has enthused the whole State to bring in more investment, more industry. West Bengal can become a trillion dollar economy by 2032.
We are doubling the capacity of our cement plant in West Bengal. You don’t have to think twice before investing in the State. If you want to invest in India, this is the State you should invest in. I can assure you, you won’t find any other State more conducive to business than West Bengal.
Rajan Bharti Mittal: The change that I have seen in this city is remarkable. This State is leading the resurgence in GDP growth, agriculture, education. West Bengal is the destination for investment within India. I can endorse the fact that when the chief minister says ‘Bengal means business’, it truly is ready for business, with a very decisive leadership, a leadership which listens, which is open-minded, which welcomes investors. Not only is Bengal ready for business, the chief minister is ready for business.
Niranjan Hiranandani, MD, Hiranandani Group: The people of Bengal are lucky and fortunate to have a chief minister who is loving and daring, who is a visionary and has multiple qualities to take the State forward. This chief minister is the best of all. She is not only the best but ‘super se upar’.
H-Energy has completed the land acquisition, and has recently received permission to build a pipeline. The company aims to deliver gas to Haldia by 2022. This will bring down the cost of manufacturing in the State and also provide gas to the cities
There is a vision which the CM has brought about. This vision brings energy and gas into this State. Gas energy will be a differentiator. A great market will be created for not only Bengal but entire north-east and Bangladesh.
YK Modi, GEECL: We have invested upto Rs 2,000 crore till now. We will invest Rs 15,000 crore over the next five years. We will provide clean gas not only to the region of Asansol-Durgapur but also Kolkata and other cities. Even when we face any problems, with the intervention of the chief minister and Dr Mitra, it does not take more than 24 hours to solve them.
‘No law and order in Bengal’ is a thing of the past. The Naxalite problem in Purulia is now over. Ease of doing business is there at grassroots level. This is a remarkable change in West Bengal.
The top political leadership is easily accessible, which helps us in doing our business. There is no need to run around to different offices, everything can be done online due to the ease of doing business reforms in the State. All my businesses are in Bengal. All my investment is in West Bengal. Mamata Didi is efficient and humane, and always offers a personal touch.
Sanjiv Puri, MD, ITC: Those present here will feel the palpable energy and the unparalleled confidence that Bengal exudes today. Bengal’s progress in socio-economic parameters has been exemplary.
The West Bengal website rightly says ‘Egiye Bangla’. I would like to humbly add ‘Bangla egiye achhe, egiye thakbe’ (Bengal leads and will continue to lead).
Investments worth Rs 4,000 crore in various sectors were announced in earlier edition of BGBS and they have fructified in a short span of time. It shows the ease of doing business in Bengal. It is not a helicopter view but you can see it on the ground.
We are taking our total investment in Bengal to Rs 5,500 crore.
DP World: DP World, a global port operator, has committed to develop Kulpi Port at an investment of Rs 3,000 crore
Karan Adani: The Adani Group will set up a port and logistics park in Bengal.
Dr Purnendu Chatterjee, Chairman of The Chatterjee Group: We had made a promise to set up a value-added park in Haldia, which we are inaugurating today.
We are starting three new research centres in the areas of neuroscience, quantum technologies, artificial intelligence and blockchain. They will be operational in the next two months.
I request you to start research in Bengal; there is incredible talent in the villages of Bengal.
Sandip Somany, VC & MD, Hindustan Sanitaryware & Industries Limited (HSIL) and President, FICCI: The growing enthusiasm among people is testimony of the success of BGBS. Under the Chief Minister’s dynamic leadership, West Bengal Government is working with the singular objective of developing the State. Even the United Nations has acknowledged your work. With great work culture and skilled people, West Bengal has turned into the land of opportunities.
Mamata didi your Government is working tirelessly to usher West bengal into the heaven of economic and social freedom
Rudra Chatterjee, Chairman of Obeetee: Bengal, under the stewardship of the Chief Minister, has become very buoyant in taxes which is funding infrastructure projects. There is a lot of spending on health and education, which makes your workforce productive.
There are startups in Bengal – Manyavar and Wow Momo – which have become darlings of the private equity and venture capital firms.
We are contemplating a health city project at a cost of Rs 350 crore in Siliguri.
