WB CM inaugurates the Park Circus-EM Bypass flyover, the longest flyover of Kolkata

WB CM inaugurates the Park Circus-EM Bypass flyover, the longest flyover of Kolkata

Posted on October 9, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

West Bengal Chief Minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee inaugurated the Park Circus-EM Bypass flyover today at 12 Noon in Kolkata. The Government of West Bengal had promised to complete the flyover before Durga Puja, and has delivered on its promise. As the Chief Minister said at the inauguration ceremony, “We had set a target for ourselves to complete this project and we have completed before that target.”

The Parama Island Flyover happens to be Kolkata’s longest flyover, stretching to 4.3 km, from the Park Circus seven-point crossing all the way to The Spring Club on EM Bypass. There is already an existing flyover stretching from near the Police Training Institute to the Park Circus crossing. Soon, these two are going to be connected too, to make travelling from Alipore to the EM Bypass and vice versa a breeze.

Accusing the Centre of non-cooperation, the Chief Minister said at the inauguration ceremony, “Despite non-cooperation from the Centre, I am proud to say we took it upon ourselves to complete the project.” Expanding on the lack of help from the Centre, she said, “The Centre walked back on its promise of constructing this flyover. But we took it forward.”

The triumphant note in the Chief Minister’s speech was evident when she said, “Soon West Bengal will shine all over India for its infrastructure… Despite all the development, the Opposition is indulging in slander politics. I tell them to stay quiet and witness the development.”

Commenting on the development of West Bengal under Trinamool Congress, the Chief Minister added, “Infrastructure is our asset. Our GDP growth is higher than the national average.”

She assured everyone of further glory for our beloved Bengal: “We will together build Bengal in all its glory. Have faith in us and we will soar to greater heights.” She coined a new slogan for development too: “NASA theke bhasha, Bangla-i amader asha.”

The West Bengal Chief Minister also announced the construction of one more flyover – connecting Taratala with Prince Anwar Shah Road. Last but not the least, the Chief Minister didn’t forget to thank the labourers who worked hard day and night for many months to complete Kolkata’s longest flyover: “We thank all the labourers who built this infrastructural marvel, and the people of Kolkata for their patience.”

Commenting on her successful official tour of Bhutan, the Chief Minister said, “We were spellbound by the hospitality extended to us by the King of Bhutan and his Prime Minister.”

The West Bengal Chief Minister extended her warmest wishes to ghazal legend Ustad Ghulam Ali and heartily invited him to do a concert in the cultural capital of India, Kolkata: “I extend our warmest invitation to music legend Ustad Ghulam Ali. There are no boundaries in music.”

The West Bengal Chief Minister today also inaugurated through remote control a number of projects for New Town.

Among the projects are – a Herbal Garden, a tea garden and tea lounge in Eco Park, the Biswa Bangla Wi-Fi at New Town, Mongal Deep – a welcoming sculpture on Biswa Bangla Sarani, New Town, the Smriti Bon in Action Area I, Swapno Bhor- a senior’s park, a 500 KW canal-top solar project adjacent to Biswa Bangla Haat, the 3^rd bridge over Bagjola canal in Action Area III, a 4 cusec-capacity drainage pumping station at New Town and the statues of Sk Mujibur Rahman, ex-PM of Bangladesh and Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, ex-President of India in the Mother’s Wax Museum, New Town.

The Chief Minister also inaugurated the Biswa Bangla showroom at Bagdogra Airport from the same venue.

WB Govt to appoint advisors for implementing infra projects

Posted on August 5, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

After returning from London, chief minister Mamata Banerjee has stressed on completing all ongoing projects in the state before the end of the financial year. The state finance department is engaging sectoral transaction advisers who will coordinate with different state and municipal level development agencies to help them find private partners to execute the projects on PPP model.

According to Nabanna officials, the finance department wants six transaction advisers for PPP projects in the state for different infrastructure sectors. The most important sector will be physical infrastructure that includes construction and transportation.

Urban (municipal) infrastructure sector includes water supply , treatment and distribution, drainage and sewerage and solid waste management. The third sector is industrial and related infrastructure like area development and commercial development, power and telecommunication infrastructure and the fourth sector is social infrastructure that includes non-construction activities like health, education, environment and ecology .

The state finance department will be the nodal agency for implementation and development of infrastructure projects under the PPP format. Officials said that the sectoral transaction advisers who will be selected will assist the government and state level agencies in executing the projects within a fixed time frame.

This is an excerpted version of the story that appeared in The Times of India on August 5, 2015

Bengal products on China shelves

Posted on June 12, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Bengal products will now be found in Chinese markets -courtesy an MoU between Biswa Bangla Corporation and Haohong Logistics Corporation, a unit of the billion Yuan Haohong Group.

Two way trade

Biswa Bangla Corporation, developed by the Mamata Banerjee government, will have a permanent stall at Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, to showcase Bengal products.

The MoU was signed in the presence of Yunnan governor Chen Hao, union minister of state for external affairs and Bengal finance and industries minister Amit Mitra. The Haohong Group has allotted a 100 sq m area in its industrial park.

Dr Mitra said: “Bengal handicrafts will now be available in China. This is a major step.”

Boost to tourism

The West Bengal tourism department also expects better inflow of Chinese tourists to Bengal following an MoU with the Yunnan provincial tourism corporation. The agreement was signed after chairman of West Bengal chapter, Indian Tour Operators Association, Debajit Dutta made a presentation on Bengal tourism.

Stronger ties between sister cities

Another MOU was signed between MSME Technology Centre and Kunming SME financial transaction service, which will act as the backbone for SME infrastructure in Bengal, said state MSME secretary Rajiva Sinha.

Earlier Kunming governor expressed interest in setting up an industrial park in Bengal which he feels should strengthen relationship with Yunnan.

Dr Mitra later said that the Yunnan governor has agreed to send an investors’ delegation to the next Bengal business summit. Mitra urged Yunnan investors to invest in the upcoming Bengal townships, one of the pet projects of chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

“We are building 22 smart cities on private-public partnership. I would request Chinese companies to invest here. Yunnan is very strong in food processing and cold storage infrastructure. We would require investment in these sectors as well,” he added.

WB Govt committed to improve transport infrastructure: Mamata Baneerjee

Posted on May 30, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said her government was committed to improve the entire transport infrastructure in the state.

Replying to a question in the state Assembly, Ms Banerjee said already several steps have been taken to improve the sector, but many more measures would be taken in the years to come to facilitate passengers.

Stating that the entire transport system had been thrown out of gear during the erstwhile Left Front regime, Ms Banerjee said her government has increased the number of buses, taxis and other modes of transport, besides removing hurdles for good administration in the sector.

A high power administrative committee has also been appointed to look after development in the sector.

Regretting that the Centre has curtailed many of its projects like Mid-Day Meal, housing for urban poor, ICDS and Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana etc, Ms Banerjee said her government was trying to take up various development schemes on its own for the betterment of the people.

Replying to another question, Ms Banerjee said so far her government has issued land pattas to three lakh families in the state, while it would be given to 30,000 more families soon.

These pattas include community land patta, forest land patta and agricultural land patta, she said adding beneficiaries were selected on the basis of socio-economic class census.

Sugata Bose speaks in Lok Sabha during Question Hour on Fiscal Deficit | Full Transcript

Posted on April 24, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Full Transcript

I was very glad to hear when the Finance Minister said in his Budget speech that he is going to give himself three, instead of two, years to reach the fiscal deficit target. He might as well have taken four years; we would not have minded.

The subsidy bill is not the only expenditure that impacts his ability to reach the fiscal deficit target. Even though we all agree that subsidies, specially fertilizer subsidies, must be better targeted. Austerity measures alone will not help either.

We have to understand the finance minister’s predicament. What he is facing is this. Unfortunately, the government’s corporate friends are not a very public-spirited lot. Therefore, they will not adequately invest in infrastructure. So, the government will have to invest in infrastructure.

The finance minister has an excellent Chief Economic Advisor. I hope this is the advice he is getting.

So, I would like to ask the finance minister whether he will give an assurance to this House that he will continue the upward trend in government investment in infrastructure for the next four years, until the end of the term of this government, so that we achieve the need for a solid foundation for the economic development of this country.

WB Govt proposes City-to-City partnership with Japan

Posted on April 9, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

West Bengal Government has proposed to set up a City-to-City (C2C) partnership of Howrah in the State with Yokohama in Japan.

This bilateral co-operation will lead to social, economic and cultural exchanges between the two satellite cities with long history.

West Bengal Chief Minister wrote on her Facebook page:

“There will be infrastructural, administrative and logistic co-operation between the cities resulting in long-term employment opportunities, skills and capacity building and all-round development.

Howrah will change to a new city altogether.

My best wishes to everyone.”

Growth of Infrastructure in Bengal: Some fact checks

Posted on March 10, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

The sustainable economic development depends on asset creating Capital Expenditure. Capital Expenditure refers to the expenses related to creation of infrastructure like roads, bridges, waters, schools, hospitals and other public works. There has been a sea change in growth of infrastructure developments since the time the new Government took office.

In 2010-11, during the previous Left Front Government, Capital Expenditure grew at negative (-ve) 26.08%. There has been a continuous improvement since then. In 2011-12, the growth was positive 24.17%, in 2012-13 at 64.53% and in the present year at 52.33%. Such growth is historic.

Plan Expenditure

The Plan Expenditure of the State has been doubled in the span of the last three years. In 2010-11, the State under Left Front Government has a Plan Expenditure worth Rs 14,165.16 Crore, and in 2013-14 it has grown to Rs 28,159.37 Crore.

Storage Capacity of Agricultural Products

There storage capacity of agricultural products has grown by more than nine times in the last three years. In 2010-11 the storage capacity was 40,000 MT and in the year 2013-14, the storage capacity is now at 3.8 Lakh MT. 84 Krishak Bazars have been already set up. The allocations on agricultural and food processing industries have increased by 25% in the State Budget over last year’s budget.

Water for All

615 rural water supply schemes have been commissioned since May 2011, which is double the number for the corresponding period (2007-2011). The expenses on providing safe drinking water have been increased by 252% from Rs 470 Crore (2010-11) to 1658 Crore (2013-14). More than 41 thousand hand pumps installed. The coverage of piped water has increased from 37.95% to 44.11%.

Rural Roads

More than 2630 kms of rural roads have been constructed in 2013-14, while in comparison only 381 kms were constructed in 2010-11 under Left Rule. The Expenditure also grew significantly from Rs 565 Crore in 2010-11 to Rs 1310 Crore in 2013-14.

State Highways

The Expenditure increased by 152%, from Rs 639 Crore (2010-11) to Rs 1610 Crore (2013-14). During this period from May 2011, 88 bridges and Rail-over-Bridges are nearing completion. The work for Asian Highway 2 and Asian Highway 48 connecting Nepal-Bangladesh and Bangladesh-Bhutan respectively has commenced.

Power

New thermal power centres are being constructed in Santaldih, Durgapur, Sagardighi, Raghunathpur. The Katwa thermal power project is expected to invite investments worth Rs 10,000 Crore. Transmission sub stations have been installed in Dalkhola, Kalna, Khatra, Kakdwio, Kurseong, Sankrial food park, Howrah and Kharagpur.

There has been remarkable development in power transmission infrastructure. 343 MVA Transformer capacity and construction of 887 km transmission line have been made in case of High Transmission line. During the same time, in case of Low Transmission line, enhancement of 2654 MVA transformer capacity have been made.

Power banks have been created, thus excess power produced is saved. Remote islands of Sundarbans are being supplied with power through grid.

Under the Scheme, ‘Sabar Ghore Alo’ electrification is under process for 1 Crore rural households. The work for universal electrification will be complete for all districts by 2016.

West Bengal – ‘Power’ing ahead

Posted on January 5, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Infrastructure shapes the society and economy. Despite the economic constraints, West Bengal Government took measures to boost the infrastructure in the state. West Bengal which once faced severe power crisis is now a power-surplus state and load shedding is now a thing of past.

With a rise of 19.9% in total installed generation capacity in just two years, West Bengal has increased its installed capacity base from 8,316.8 MW in 2010-11 to 9,974.1 MW in 2012-13. This shows the efforts put in by the state government to keep the power surplus state ready for 100% electrification in the years to come. There have been some significant developments in every sphere of the power sector from generation to transmission.

Here are some of the achievements in the last 3 years:

4000 km of roads upgraded to double lanes or intermediate lane. Construction of 16 big bridges and five flyovers on rail track has been completed.

WBHDCL will construct 3000 km road in PPP model.

The work of the bridge over the river Subarnarekha at Bhasaraghat is going in full swing. The flyover in the VIP road is also going on.

Special emphasis has been given to Jangalmahal area. 12 new school buildings and hostels, one PTTI, 74 hostels for girls. 4 new colleges, 3 new stadiums, sports academy, polytechnic, ITIs are being constructed.

The Government is creating 16,000 kms of rural road covering 3349 gram panchayats.

West Bengal is one the few states where arrangements have been made for 24 hour power supply. Target has been fixed to supply power to every household within the end of 2015-16.

New thermal power centres are being constructed in Santaldih, Durgapur, Sagardighi, Raghunathpur. The Katwa thermal power project is expected to invite investments worth Rs 10,000 crore. Transmission sub stations have been installed in Dalkhola, Kalna, Khatra, Kakdwio, Kurseong, Sankrial food park, Howrah and Kharagpur.

Power banks have been created, thus excess power produced is saved. Remote islands of Sunderbans are being supplied with power through grid.

There has been remarkable development in power transmission infrastructure. 343 MVA Transformer capacity and construction of 887 km transmission line have been made in case of H T line. During the same time, in case of L T line, enhancement of 2654 MVA transformer capacity and construction of new 251674 km have been made.

There has been development of hydel power projects in Jaldhaka and remarkable increase in capacity under ‘Tista Canal Fall Hydel Power Scheme’.

State Power Transmission Company has got the ‘Power Line; 2012 award as the best power transmission company of India. Power Finance Corporation, IKRA and CARE combinedly in a rating for 2013, have announced State Power Transmission Company as the second best transmission company in India.

The state has secured the third prize in Best State Power Utility Awards, WBSEB received the second prize for management excellence and the first prize was awarded to CESC.

Come to Bengal… Ride the growth: http://bengalglobalsummit.com/

Written by Agnivo Niyogi and Sanmit Sarkar