West Bengal government invites India Inc to invest in state

MUMBAI: The West Bengal government, which has recently adopted many industry friendly policies, today invited corporates to invest in key sectors like power, iron and steel, hospitality, tourism, gems and jewellery among others in the state.

"West Bengal has huge potential and long-term advantages of doing business in terms of infrastructure, resource availability and sectoral opportunities," Principal Secretary, Department of Urban Development and Town and Country Planning, Debashis Sen said at a CII function here.

The state has brought many industry-friendly policies to encourage investments, the recent being the Investment and Industrial Policy 2013 and the MSME Policy, 2013," Sen said.

The state has rolled out a road show in order to attract investment in nine key sectors like power, iron and steel, engineering, IT and ITeS (IT enabled services), food processing and horticulture, hospitality and tourism, gems and jewellery, tea, jute and textile and leather.

West Bengal government, which is looking at both international as well as domestic investors, is strengthening infrastructure in these key sectors that will facilitate the investments in the state, he said.

The government has also set up a Single Window Cell, comprising of representatives of various departments, which aims at expeditious disposal of matters relating to clearances for setting up of industrial units in the state, Sen said.

A task force has also been formed by the government to dispose off applications in a time bound manner, he added.