West Bengal invites industry for investments

Kolkata: Terming West Bengal as the economic future of India, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has invited the industry to set-up an auto and a pharma hub in the state.

While interacting with industry players at an event organised by the CII on Tuesday, she said her government has land bank available to promote growth of these hubs and other sectors.

She said despite progress on numerous economic fronts, there was a lot of negative publicity of the state, the reason being the low financial stature of her political party Trinamool Congress.

"There is negative publicity about the state despite its progress on all fronts. This may be due to the fact that we are poorest of the poor party," she said.

Assuring full cooperation from the state departments concerned to setting-up industrial units in the state, the Trinamool supremo said agro marketing and solar energy sectors besides manufacturing, engineering and automobile are the areas which are rich in opportunities.

The chief minister said a core industry body has been set up to oversee the concerns of the industry and help to clear all necessary approvals.

She further said her visits to UK, Singapore, Bangladesh and Bhutan have generated interest in the nation's eastern state from investors and businessmen alike.

Prime minister Narendra Modi has also previously termed east India as the nation's future potential industrial powerhouse.