Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee forms government-business committees to attract investment

KOLKATA: To make the most of her recent five-day trip to Singapore, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today formed several committees with active participation by businessmen and senior government officials to boost investment in the state.

The committees were formed in a second review meeting with the members of the delegation who accompanied the chief minister in her investment-seeking Singapore visit.

Briefing reporters about the review meeting, state Finance and Industry Minister Amit Mitra said that a Steering Committee and eight Sectoral Committees had been formed which would meet every one month and 15 days respectively to review progress and suggest plans and policies.

The Steering Committee would be chaired by the state chief secretary Sanjay Mitra, while industrialist Sanjeev Goenka would act as its co-chairman.

Apart from this an industrial Core Committee, already existing in the state, would meet every three months to ratify the development undertaken by other committees before forwarding them for government action.

These Committees on various sector would also help promote "Biswa Bangla" Brand, Mitra said.

Eight Sectoral Committees are on Housing; IT, software and hardware; Food Processing and Horticulture; MSME and Textile; Manufacturing; Healthcare and Education; Energy and Infrastructure; and Tourism and Hospitality, Mitra said.

Lauding the initiative taken by the state government, industrialist Sanjeev Goenka said that such an initiative was for the first time by any state government or the Centre.

"This shows state government's firm resolve to attract investment in the state," Goenka said.