West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said the negative publicity of the state was probably due to poor financial status of her party Trinamool Congress.
“There is negative publicity about the state despite its progress on all fronts. This may be due to the fact that we are poorest of the poor party,” she said at the CII National Council meet here.
She said, “This is a democratic right (for those who say it) and I can’t challenge that.”
Inviting the captains of Indian industry who converged here at the CII meet here, the chief minister’s narrative ranged from progress on economic parameters to increased industrial investments taking place in the state.
“Land is available with us in the land bank which is being used to provide for new cities and industrial parks,” she said.
No forcible acquisition of land
The Chief Minister said that she was against taking away land forcibly from farmers and advocated that the input should be purchased directly.
“It is our policy not to bulldoze or evict farmers or forcibly buy land from them.We have a land bank of 7,400 acres spread from Asansol to Kalyani. We also have land in Raghunathpur, Kharagpur and Panagarh. I know there is some issue with the land ceiling which doesn’t allow a person to keep land above 24 acres. But if you have a large parcel of land, you can form a group of three or four or more and keep the land,“ she said.
Helpline number for industry
Companies like SAIL, DVC and NTPC were investing in West Bengal, she said and welcomed investments to the state.
She gave the helpline number saying that any problem faced would be sorted out by just giving her a call.
She also invited the CII members to attend the global business meet to be held here in January.
Praise from captains of industry
The Chief Minister got local impetus when city businessmen Sanjeev Goenka and Y C Deveshwar praised the ease of doing business here.
Godrej Group chairman Adi Godrej said: “Land is no longer an issue now. The CM is trying her best. I believe things have started moving in the state.“ Apollo Hospitals vicepresident Shobana Kamineni also appreciated the move.
“We had a very good interaction with her,“ she said. Sanjiv Goenka, too, added that the interaction with the CM was “very inspiring“.
President designate of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Noushad Forbes held that things are “now moving in Bengal.“