Bengal roadshows in Mum, Chennai ahead of biz summit

Kolkata: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee plans to hold roadshows in Mumbai, Chennai and cities in Karnataka and Rajasthan to boost Bengal’s image as an industry-friendly state ahead of Bengal Global Business Summit, scheduled to be inaugurated on November 21 and go on till November 23. Banerjee said she would visit the states from June July to meet investors and improve the industry scene.Bengal needed to be properly represented to turn it into an investors’ destination, Banerjee said, adding her finance adviser, Amit Mitra, would meet diplomats in Delhi, showcasing Bengal as the perfect destination to carry out business. Apart from planning to meet top industrialists in Mumbai, Banerjee said she was also looking at south India and hoped to hold talks with businessmen in Bengaluru and Chennai.The chief minister asked Ficci to arrange for a meeting with industrialists in Mumbai. Besides, CII will make similar arrangements in Chennai and ICC will look after the meeting in Karnataka. Banerjee said she also planned to hold a meeting with industrialists in Rajasthan, it being the home state of many industrialists in Kolkata. “We have to connect with people. As many from Rajasthan live here, we can easily get connected,” Banerjee said, turning to industrialist Harsh Neotia to help out in Rajasthan. “The government will facilitate you. I will go and the ministers of industry and tourism, along with other officials, will also accompany me. It will be better if you hold the meetings between Tuesday and Thursday,” she said. Banerjee also hoped that the international roadshow, which was stopped due to the Covid, could be revived soon to showcase Bengal globally. The last BGBS meet was held in April 2022. Former finance minister Amit Mitra had earlier said investment proposals worth Rs 12.3 lakh crore were received between 2015 and 2019 in BGBS and most were under implementation. In BGBS 2022, investment proposal was worth Rs 3.4Lcrore.