Singur setback not the last word: Buddhadeb

KOLKATA: Claiming that Singur setback has not rung the death knell for industries in West Bengal, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today said the state attracted investment proposals worth Rs 9,000 crore last year.

"We suffered a setback in setting up the small car factory at Singur, but that has not stopped us. In the last year, the state has seen an investment of Rs 9,000 crore and this year it will be more," Bhattacharjee said.

He was laying foundation stone of a Rs 205-crore 'common facility centre' on the southern outskirts of the city which will provide technical and marketing assistance to 240 small fan-manufacturing units.

The units were on the verge of closure after Usha Fans closed down eight years back.

He said large plants like a steel factory in Salboni in West Midnapore district by Jindal group, a manure plant at Panagarh by Essar, Aretropolis in Andul and an electronic hub in Siliguri were coming up, Bhattacharjee said.

"IT giants like Infosys and Wipro have also expressed their desire to set up companies which will provide jobs to thousands of students," the chief minister said.

The chief minister underlined the importance of small-scale units which, he says, has two advantages. First, they require less capital to set up and second, they have a very large employment potential.

In this connection he cited the instance of the project the foundation stone of which he laid today.

"The common facility centre will cheer up 3000 families," Bhattacharjee said.