Pepsico to invest Rs 500 Cr in Bengal: Labour Minister

Pepsico to invest Rs 500 Cr in Bengal: Labour Minister

Posted on September 15, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

World renowned company Pepsico is investing in Bengal on a large scale.

The company has decided to invest Rs 500 crore to set up a large manufacturing unit at Asansol, Labour Minister Moloy Ghatak said.

As per the instructions of the Chief Minister, Pepsico has been allotted 40 acres of land already at Dharma mouza. Employment opportunities for 2500 people have been created initially, with scope of further employment in the future.

Labour Minister said that at the initiative of West Bengal CM, the government now gives speedy land clearance to investment proposals. He said the departments of land & land reforms and industry are coordinating in ensuring ease of doing business in the State.

Companies like Pepsico are investing in Bengal because of the new Industry Policy formulated at the initiative of WB CM, the minister opined.

This is based on a report published in Sangbad Pratidin on 15 September, 2015

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WB Govt to tap 1 lakh acres of government land for industry

Posted on September 15, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

West Bengal is planning to tap over one lakh acres of land available with the government in a bid to woo investors to the state.

State Finance, Industries and Commerce Minister Dr Amit Mitra said: “We are pro-poor and pro-business. Bengal is one case where reality is significantly better than perception. The question of land acquisition doesn’t arise. The government and its various departments have over one lakh acres of ready land, which we have decided to give to business houses to set up industries.“

Dr Mitra was in Mumbai for a road show to promote ‘Bengal Global Business Summit 2016’ to be held in Kolkata in January 2016.

“Land will not be a problem in West Bengal. WBIDC has 4,400 acres of ready land under its possession for industrial development. This is apart from the land for 6 townships in the state. Another 4000 acres of land will be made available soon,” the finance minister said.

The rest of its land bank is available with various government departments spread all over the state.

“Come and make money, come where the rising curve is happening,” said Dr Mitra, highlighting the growth benefits of investing in the state.

Among the key features offered to investors include land for greenfield projects, industrial parks and smart public administration.

Group of Ministers constituted to identify and reclaim closed industry land

Posted on September 15, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

The West Bengal Government has decided to step up its efforts to reclaim 285 acres of land acquired by public sector firm Cycle Corporation of India, at Asansol.

The decision was taken at the third meeting of the Group of Ministers (GoM) constituted to identify and reclaim land acquired by closed industrial units.

As per the findings of the GoM, of the 49,000 acres of land acquired by closed industrial units in Bengal, only about 7,500 acres are deemed non-litigant (not mired in litigations) by the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR).

As per preliminary findings of the panel, the land held by the Cycle Corporation of India does appear to be litigation-free.However, to be absolutely certain that the piece of land in question isn’t mired in litigation problems, the GoM, today (Thursday), set up a separate panel comprising directors, commissioners or joint secretaries of five state government departments, namely law, land, industrial reconstruction, agriculture and labour.

The panel will probe the current status of the land held by the Cycle Corporation of India and submit its report (to the GoM) on September 29, 2015,” the cabinet member said.

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

Posted on September 11, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

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.

US companies show interest to partner with West Bengal for smart cities

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

With four smart cities coming up in West Bengal, US-based multinationals like HP, Cisco and Otis have shown interest in partnering with the state. The companies are actively looking into technological collaboration with the State Government agencies to get the proposed smart cities rolling.

“Hewlett-Packard has shown interest in health care and telemedicine while Pratt & Whitney in providing elevator services,” Dr Amit Mitra, State Finance and Industry Minister said at the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

US-based Cisco has shown interest in e-learning and e-health solutions. Beverage firms CocaCola and Pepsi have also shown interest of further investment.

Dr Mitra said 25% of the allotted land in each of these theme townships will be kept to develop the “theme while the rest is to be dedicated for other purposes”.

He said in the recent roadshow held in New Delhi to attract investment for these theme townships, Kajaria Cements along with Hiranandanis and the Piramals have shown interest.

Giving an update over the progress of the Rs 2.43 lakh crore investment proposals concluded during the Bengal Business Summit in January this year, Mitra said around Rs.87,000 crore is already in process.

The West Bengal Government, which had organized a road show in New Delhi to attract investment and technological partners for the proposed smart cities, met the multinationals’ representatives on Monday at New Delhi. One of the multinationals has shown interest in the proposed smart city projects in Durgapur and Haldia as they already have a base there. Two officials of the US department of treasury had been to Kolkata to discuss the State’s plans to develop the smart cities. West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) is also working with the representatives of Future Cities Catapult (FCC), a UK-based urban planning agency, to chalk out how the smart cities can be developed. Bengal has signed an MoU with FCC in London during Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee’s recent visit there.

The State is also developing theme-based cities in areas like Baruipur, Kalyani, Asansol, Siliguri, Dumurjola and Shantiniketan. FICCI has shown interest in partnering with the state for the proposed theme city project on 127 acres in Shantiniketan. At Asansol, the industry-themed city is likely to be promoted in association with the CII, while the Baruipur senior citizen-themed city will be promoted in association with the CREDAI, Bengal.

The State Government is also inviting bids for the cities till September 21.

Tea-Tourism in Bengal to get a boost

Posted on September 8, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

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.

Bengal to conduct road shows in Delhi to promote theme city project

Posted on September 7, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

The West Bengal Government has taken unique measures to set up the six theme cities in the State. Roadshows will be conducted at Delhi from today in order to attract investments for the theme cities in Asansol, Kalyani, Siliguri, Baruipir, Shantiniketan and Dumurjola.

The State Government has now associated itself with different chambers of commerces in order to promote the six theme cities.

The Asansol industry-themed city will be promoted in association with the CII.

The Kalyani IT-themed city will be promoted in association with the BCCI.

The Siliguri Education & Health-themed city will be promoted in association with the AHI

And the Baruipur senior citizen-themed city will be promoted in association with the CREDAI.

The two other cities, the culture-themed city at Shantiniketan and the sports-themed city at Dumurjola, will be also be promoted with different industry bodies.

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

Posted on August 18, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

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.

Bengal planning to set up a Legal Hub in New Town

Posted on August 7, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

The West Bengal Government may soon work on the idea of bringing the West Bengal Human Rights Commission (WBHRC), consumer court, land reforms tribunal and other similar forums under one roof.

The building, which is to house these forums, would likely come up at New Town and would be designed on the lines of the Rolls Building in London.

The Rolls Building houses England’s Royal Court of Justice. The building was commissioned in 2011 to decongest the High Court of London. Bengal officials carried out an extensive tour of the premises and visited the offices of law firms, commercial courts, consultation rooms, court staff office and court rooms.

There’s provision for inter room video conferences and remote videos for witnesses as well. All court proceedings are audio recorded and archived with real-time annotations (on those who spoke or deposed). The proposed building would be located in the central business district of New Town and would have the same facilities as the Rolls Building.

Forums like the human rights commission, consumer court and land reforms tribunal, among others, are currently housed at different places. It is being planned to bring all these forums under one roof.

The security system of the new building would also be on the lines of the Rolls Building.

The new building would be equipped with security screening facility, including X-rays, DFMDs and counters to file documents and pay fees. The New Town Financial and Legal Hub will be fashioned on the London model.

Laura Ashley to sell Biswa Bangla handicraft in UK, Japan

Posted on August 4, 2015 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Organic Baluchari sarees and balaposh of Murshidabad, terra cotta from Bishnupur and sitalpati mats from Cooch Behar: all these Bengal specialties will now be found on shelves at high-end retail stores in the UK and Japan.

Laura Ashley, one of the leading home furnishing retail chains of the UK, which also has a strong presence in Japan, will soon start selling Bengal products under its brand name. The initiative, courtesy an agreement between Obeetee and Laura Ashley signed during West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee’s recent visit to London, will be supported by Biswa Bangla Corporation.

With the help of Biswa Bangla, handicraft from Bengal will be procured and supplied to the UK retail chain. A Laura Ashley team will visit the state in September to shortlist products for its outlets in London, Tokyo and other cities in the UK and Japan.

Laura Ashley is looking at products like, Baluchari, Kantha-stitch fabric from Santiniketan, terra cotta articles, jute products from North 24-Parganas and Hooghly and bamboo craft from Jalpaiguri. Following a deal signed during the WB CM’s visit to Singapore last year, an initial deal was signed which is proving to be fruitful.