West Bengal attracted Rs 83000 crore investments in past 3 years: Amit Mitra

MUMBAI: Showcasing improvement in business sentiment, West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra today said the state has attracted over Rs 83,000 crore investments, including from leading corporates, during the last three and a half years' Mamata Banerjee government rule.

"Contrary to general perception, West Bengal is riding on growth path. The state has attracted Rs 83,212 crore investment between April 2011 and December 2014, which includes investment in operational as well as upcoming large and medium industrial units," Mitra told reporters while showcasing the 'Bengal Global Business Summit' here today.

Tata group company TCS is building 40-acre campus to house 20,000 IT professionals. Tata Metaliks also plans to expand capacity, while Tata Hitachi Construction Machinery Co. plans investment in R&D and upgradation work, he said.

Among other mega investment projects, Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group is investing Rs 600 crore for its proposed cement plant on 100 acres of land. Orissa Cement and Emami Group are also investing Rs 600 crore each for setting up cement facilities in the state.

State-run NTPC is setting up the largest power plant having 1,300 MW capacity with an investment of Rs 10,000 crore, he said.

Matix Fertilisers and Chemicals' plant near Panagarh in West Bengal will use coal-bed-methane (CBM) as feedstock for its Rs 5,500 crore fertiliser unit, Mitra said.

Among other industrial houses, L&T is deeply engaged in state building highways, while the Shapoorji Pallonji Group received the permission to set up 20,000 apartments for LIG and MIG group, he said.

Mitra said that the state has taken up wide-ranging fiscal reforms through e-taxation. The state's own tax collection growth has doubled from Rs 21,000 crore in 2010-11 to Rs 40,000 crore in 2013-14- the largest increase in three years period on account of e-taxation reforms. The current year tax collection target is Rs 45,000 crore.

The capital expenditure growth turned positive at 24.17 per cent in 2011-12 and 64.53 per cent in 2012-13. Massive capital formation is underway in the state, he said.

The government has constructed 385 kms of rural roads at a cost of Rs 670 crore in 2010-11. During this government's tenure, in 2013-14, 2,631 kms of rural roads were constructed at a cost of Rs 1,330 crore.

Mitra said the country's big corporate houses will attend Bengal Global Business Summit scheduled on January 7 and 8 in Kolkata. Delegations from Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, the UK, the US and Australia are also expected to participate.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari are expected to attend the summit, he added.