Tag: Business

WB CM to hold meeting with Chinese delegation on November 5

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A Chinese delegation comprising senior ministers and dignitaries will meet West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee on 5 November and explore the potential for Chinese investment in the state.

Earlier, this year, State industry minister Dr Amit Mitra visited China and showcased the development in infrastructure and power situation of the state which is necessary for investment. A Chinese delegation may attend the Bengal Business Summit in January 2016.

The Chief Minister is going on a three-day tour to North Bengal starting from 2 November and on her return from North Bengal on 5 November, she would meet the Chinese delegation. She would go to Mal, Cooch Behar and Jaigoan – to hold meetings on public distribution system and will also hold administrative meetings in Jaigoan, near Bhutan border.

Recently a seven-member team from Singapore met state urban development officials and showed interest in various smart city projects, especially that of New Town.

The State Government has asked the delegation to see if they could form a consortium to assist the government for the smart city projects. The state is also planning to stage a road show in Singapore to promote the smart city projects.

Before going to North Bengal, the Chief Minister would visit Junglemahal for three days starting from 28 November. Her regular visits to the Hills and Junglemahal have helped to restore peace in the areas.’

The West Bengal Chief Minister had earlier said that she would begin her dream project “Sabuj Sathi’ distribution of cycles to all school children.”I will start the pilot project from Bandowan in Purulia just before the Jaggadhatri Puja. Earlier, we used to distribute cycles to minority, schedule caste and schedule tribe girl students but now the cycles will be distributed to all students,’ she added.

WB Govt to organise ‘Ahare Bangla’ food fest

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To promote various types of food produced by farmers of West Bengal, the State Government will organise a food fest from October 30.

The four-day-long “Ahare Bangla – a food festival celebrating Bengal” at Milan Mela grounds would feature unique food products from the state like agricultural produce, fish, meat etc.

West Bengal is home to many unique varieties of rice like black aromatic rice, short grained aromatic rice ‘kalo nunia’, ‘gobinda bhog’, ‘tuali panji’ and others.

West Bengal Animal Resources Development department promote various non-conventional and exotic meat products such as quail, turkey, rabbit, emu, pork etc, while the fisheries department would promote new varieties of fish with high productivity and improved taste like ‘vennami’, ‘pungus’, ‘Vietnam koi’ etc.

Top restaurants and caterers of the city have been brought on the platform. The festival would be interspersed with ethnic cultural programmes, cookery shows, panel discussions and B2B summits.

A talkshow would be hosted by master chefs like Anjan Chatterjee, Sujit Sinha and Joymalya Banerjee.

Cookery classes on how to make authentic Bengali dishes would be another attraction at the fest.

‘Deemed clearance’ for conversion & mutation of land for Industry to be given: Dr Amit Mitra

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The West Bengal Government will give `deemed clearance’ for conversion and mutation of land for industry if the department concerned fails to submit the report within the time frame.

State commerce and industries Minister Dr Amit Mitra told that CM Mamata Banerjee has taken this step to “further ease the process of doing business in Bengal“. “Earlier, it used to take 5-6 months for conversion and mutation of land but now in some cases, it is happening in 7-10 days. Conversion and mutation of land will be electronically linked,“ he said.

Earlier, addressing the annual general meeting of Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), Dr Mitra said that apart from environment clearance from West Bengal Pollution Control Board, all the other clearances related to industry will be `deemed’.

To make business easier in Bengal and boost investors’ confidence, fire safety licences will now be issued online to those willing to set up new units. Fire services minister Javed Ahmed Khan said, “We have hired a company to create a dedicated portal for this. It’s expected to be operational by the end of the year.“

In June, the West Bengal Chief MinIster had declared she would move to the `next level’ of smoothing out the process of doing business here. This included 30 days for land conversion and 21 days for mutation of land. The state has already empowered industry promotion bodies like West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC), Webel, WBIIDC and WBSIDC to sanction building plans for industrial purposes.

On the second Bengal Global Business Summit, Mitra said out of Rs 2.43 lakh crore proposed investment in the state, processing has started for Rs 91,000 crore.“We have started road shows. The one in Delhi was very encouraging. Industrialists have said experience of doing business in Bengal is better than in other states,“ the Minister added.

“Capital expenditure has grown by 601% in the last four years since our government took over. It was Rs 2,225 crore in 2010-11 and it went up to Rs 13,375 crore in 2014-15. The growth of physical infrastructure was also more than 330%,“ Dr Mitra pointed out.

Tea-Tourism in Bengal to get a boost

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Tea Tourism in West Bengal is going to get a boost as the State Government may take steps for easing the processes related to it.

The West Bengal government’s group of ministers recently met the the members of the Consultative Committee of Plantation Association (CCPA) to discuss the health of the tea industry and how to revive it. This will also help to set up Tea Tourism industry to the State.

The Sate Finance Minister Dr Amit Mitra also attended the meeting, where the issue of tea tourism and use of land for alternate crops were also discussed.

There are 377 tea estates in north Bengal employing 2.64 lakh workers. Of these, 87 tea estates are in Darjeeling, 188 in Jalpaiguri and 102 in Terai. The total tea production of these estates is about 330 million kg per year. The State Government may also look at providing some financial assistance to the tea garden workers from the Rs 100 crore corpus for which the Assembly has passed the West Bengal Tea Plantations Employees Welfare Fund, 2015.

Incidentally, West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee has instructed earlier to give special focus to Tea Tourism.

Proposals flooding in for investments in Theme Cities: Urban Development Minister

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More than 50 organisations from foreign countries and other states of India are giving proposals for investments for the six Theme City projects in Bengal.

Investment proposals have also been received for IT and Financial Hubs. State Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim disclosed the information after returning from the International Urban Development Summit held at Istanbul.

At the Summit, the State Urban Development Minister termed himself as the ‘marketing representative’ of Bengal and invited the investors to come to Bengal and feel the warmth and make investments. He pointed out to them that India is one of the few places in Asia which has huge opportunities for making investments and Bengal is the best State to invest into.

The State Urban Development Minister gave various examples of the theme township projects as well as the good governance of the stable Government. He said that the investors have showed major interest on Baruipur theme township project which is going to be connected to the extended EM Bypass soon.

Prominent UK industrialist keen to set up sports car hub in Bengal

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Prominent UK investor Lord Swraj Paul-led Caparo Group may set up a compact sports car manufacturing unit in the state.

With West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee by his side, Lord Paul said on Wednesday that his company is looking forward to integrating its auto ancillary business. Currently the group is working on the design of a low-end sports car for the Indian and Asian market.

The Caparo group has business interests in the manufacturing and marketing of car bodies, steel sheets and other auto engineering products. “This project is currently at the R&D stage. We have entrusted British Formula One giant McLaren with its design. If all goes well, India would be the place where I plan to set up its manufacturing base,” Paul said.

When asked, if Bengal would be his preferred choice, Paul replied: “West Bengal would certainly have the first rights of refusal.”

WB CM invites David Cameron to revisit Kolkata

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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has invited British Prime Minister David Cameron to revisit Kolkata soon, describing the city “a true getaway to the east”.

“My message for the British PM is that he must visit Kolkata again soon and see that it is truly the gateway to the east,” she said in response to a letter from Mr Cameron apologising for not being able to meet her in London due to his tour of South East Asia.

“I am sorry that my travel plans mean I will not be in London to see you in London…I fondly recall our meeting in Kolkata in November 2013, when we discussed the positive UK-West Bengal bilateral cooperation that exists, and the wealth of trade and investment opportunities this offers,” the British PM had written in his letter dated July 24.

Ms Banerjee highlighted that it was a matter of “destiny” that Britain turns to Kolkata and West Bengal, which she described as a “gateway to Asia”.

“Britain started with Kolkata as its business capital (during the Raj) so that is the destination. History repeats itself and it is destiny that British business should expand to Kolkata,” she said.

Asked how the West Bengal capital compares to London, the Trinamool Congress leader said both cities have their own identity but there are a number of similarities.

“As I have been walking around I see a lot of similarities in architecture and road names. They have Queen Victoria’s statue, we have Victoria Memorial. London is an expensive city but Kolkata is not. It is a soft, soothing, cheap city. London is pollution-free and we are fast moving towards a cleaner, greener city,” she said.

Walking has been central theme of the chief minister’s visit to the UK, as she prefers to explore London mostly by foot in her trademark white sari and flip-flops.

Asked if she would revisit the British capital, she said: “I will definitely come back. This has been a very fruitful business meet. The perception of Bengal has changed today. It is set to become the industrial hub of India. The size of investments will become clear over time but 21 MoUs have been signed, which is a very positive sign.”

“Today the world is a united family and we must walk together,” she said.

Canary Wharf model for business hub in Rajarhat

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Tall shimmering skycrapers of London’s business district may soon be seen in the heart of Kolkata. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has decided to recreate London’s financial district -Canary Wharf -in Rajarhat.

According to the CM, the financial hub which is already under construction will look like the one in London.

UK India Business Council, WB CM’s hosts in the UK, is planning to open an office in the Kolkata financial district to rope in more investments into Bengal.

The CM said she has decided to give UKIBC land to build their office here.

It is learnt that top executives of J P Morgan and HSBC also met the chief minister and finance minister Amit Mitra to inquire about the hub over the last two days in London.

Spread over some 35.76 acres, the hub has already roped in 11 banks and financial institutions like the NIC, UBI, UCOBank, SBI, Union Bank, Bank of Baroda, Allahabad Bank, Corporation Bank, Sriram Credit and two state government institutions, the West Bengal Financial Corporation and the West Bengal Infrastructure Development Corporation.

“It’s the second such hub in the country after the one at Bandra Kurla in Mumbai,” said Firhad Hakim, urban development minister of Bengal. “Of the 23 plots in the financial hub, 11 have already been booked,” he added.

The Bengal government has already successfully organized three roadshows in Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi to market the New Town financial hub.

Banks, stock exchanges, commodity broking houses, mutual fund companies having an average annual turnover of Rs 500 crore for the last three financial years ending March 31, 2014 are eligible to express their interest in booking plots within the hub.

Captains of industry praise Bengal as investment destination

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Dignitaries and the members of business delegation showered praises on the West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee and the industrial condition of West Bengal at different meeting held by the Bengal business delegation in London.

Excerpts:

British Employment Minister Priti Patel: “She is an amazing lady, let me be clear about that, in terms of detail, vision and passion. She is an incredible leader – to listen to her speak on the podium and in conversation as well.”

“They (UK investors) started to dip their toes in the west when the PM and I went to Calcutta two years ago.”

“Now we were able to follow up from the discussions and the conversations we had then. She was then fizzing with ideas. Now we were able to put through things in a much more concrete way.”

UKIBC Chair, Rt Hon Patricia Hewitt: “What I heard was not the usual rhetorics; I could also see a clear sense of purpose.”

Chandra Kumar Dhanuka, Chairman, Dhunseri: Never lost any mandays because of labour problems. I take the responsibility to say that the industrial relation in West Bengalis better than any other States in India.”

Sanjay Budhia, MD, Patton: “No mandays were wasted in our factories. New factory received license and other required papers from the Government within seven days.”

YC Deveswar, Chairman, ITC Limited: “I have come to London in spite of my busy schedule because I wanted to let you know about my experiences of doing business in Bengal. I think there are very less markets in India such as West Bengal. Consumption level is increasing by 3% per annum here.”

Harsh Neotia, Chairman, Ambuja Neotia Group: “Kolkata will judge you first. If it likes you, it will give you the warmest of welcomes. You have to come here with the mindset of playing a long innings.”

Head of Apollo Tyres: “The presentation about Bengal and the case studies shown have been an eye-opener.”

Sanjeev Goenka: Though we are happy with our investments in UK, we are happier with our investments in Bengal.”

 

No red tape, backlogs in Bengal: WB CM in London

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West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee has called on the UK to invest in her state stating that “backlogs and red tape are gone”.

In reference to the progress made by the Trinamool Congress government over the last four years, she said “If there is a vision, there is a mission…(otherwise) there will be no action plan also”.

“If you say London is the (financial) capital of the world, I say Bengal is the human capital of the world,” she said in her address at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) last evening.

Later in the day , Lord Swraj Paul called on Mamata in her hotel. Paul, said he was willing to help Bengal in “whatever way possible”.

The Chief Minister, who walked around London yesterday, covered over 12km in two hours.

A closed-door business meeting at Asia House is scheduled later today.