Chandigarh: The Government of
West Bengal is gearing up for the 7th edition of the Bengal Global Business
Summit (BGBS) scheduled to take place on November 21-22, 2023, in Kolkata. As a
prelude to this prestigious event, a roadshow was organized in Chandigarh
to explore trade and investment opportunities in the state of West
Bengal and strengthen bilateral relations and cooperation.
In collaboration with ASSOCHAM, the Government of West Bengal
hosted an Interactive Session with Business Stakeholders on Friday, 3rd November.
This session brought together some of the leading business groups from West
Bengal, with several key industry players from Chandigarh together.
Sh Drishmeet Singh Buttar, Co-Chairman,
ASSOCHAM Chandigarh UT Development Council and Managing Partner, Healing Super
Specialty Hospital, Chandigarh welcomed the participants and highlighted West
Bengal's investor friendliness while talking about the opportunities in the
state. He mentioned that Bengal is the sixth largest state in India in terms of
economic size, boasting a Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of approximately
INR 14.44 lakh crore (US$ 206.64 billion) for the fiscal year 2020-21 and has
some of the finest industry policies and is a leading state when it comes to
the MSME’s sector.
Dr. Amit Mitra, Principal Chief Advisor to the hon’ble Chief
minister and Finance Department, Government of West Bengal (holding the rank of
a cabinet minister), delivered the keynote Address. He began his
address with emotional quotient connecting Bengal and Punjab’s contribution to India’s freedom
struggle and invited partnership in continuation of this tradition. Stating
Bengal’s strength, he shared that the RBI study shows Bengal is 4th largest
state in terms of net value added and that is the attraction to come to Bengal. Speaking of GDP numbers, the GDP of Bengal in
year 23-24 will be 17.5 lakh crores compared to Punjab's GDP of near about 7
lakh crores, highlighting on the significant opportunities for businesses in
Punjab to expand through engagements with Bengal. Bengal is 4th largest
state and that is an excellent reason for businessmen from Punjab to visit Bengal for BGBS2023. He spoke of, logistic connectivity
and mentioned that the Amritsar
to Dankunia / Kolkata freight corridor is coming up and is in final stages and
the same will connect two states with longest freight corridor in the country
to move goods in much more seamless manner. Talking of two states, he
said, Punjab’s achievement is wheat, and it can feed whole country while Bengal’s contribution is in terms of Rice as it is the
largest rice producing state. Bengal is 2nd largest producer of
fruits and vegetables and that is why ITC has 19 plants in West
Bengal as they get raw material that is needed.
In context of Manufacturing, Bengal
has largest rail manufacturing infrastructure, Titagarh is known for making
wagon and metro coaches, and the company has 5 facilities and it is expanding
more. He also mentioned another rail sector company, Texmaco tying up with
global companies for cutting edge technology. Referring to mining sector he
spoke of Tata Hitachi construction company manufacturing equipment’s in State Industrial
park and is expanding further in the hard core
manufacturing domain. He shared that Bengal is cement hub of India, as there are 9 companies
having cement plants and out of these 6 companies came in the
tenure of Hon’ble Chief Minister Ms Mamta Banerjee, he spoke of latest entry
Shree Cement that came in during last BGBS. On IT Sector front, he said state
has data centre policy and largest of the datacentre companies will come in 3-4
years and land has already been taken up by JIO to be build largest AI driven
Data centre facility. The under the sea cable landing in Bengal
would further support and strengthen the sector. Speaking of TCS, the
tech giant, which currently is employing 55 thousand people, with a new campus
in Kolkata will have more people than even Bengaluru.
Speaking of MSME’s he said that state has grown up from 49
clusters to 500 clusters under the leadership of Hon’ble Chief Minister. He
invited cooperation as Punjab has
infrastructure and human resource strength and stressed on building a two-way
relationship. He invited industry to visit BGBS and meet overseas delegations.
He spoke of JIS group’s contribution and asked businesses to explore Bengal.
Shri Anoop Kumar Agrawal, IAS, Principal
Secretary, Department of Technical Education, Training, and Skill Development,
Government of West Bengal, highlighted the significant advancements in the
skill and technical education sector. He stated Bengal
offers 3rd Largest workforce accounting for about 7.2 percent
of the workforce of the country. Statistically 69.5% population is within working-age (15-59 years) and
36.7% youth population (15-34 years) which is better than national
average. He highlighted on the skill development initiatives of the
Government including the Utkarsh Bangla Scheme's role in catering to industry
demands for skilled youth and various key components of the Scheme. Along with
other initiatives being undertaken by TET&SD Department, Government of West
Bengal. He spoke of Industry Institute Partnership programs and the successful
partnership with companies such as Maruti, Siemens, L&T construction etc.,
he also spoke of the new initiative of Amar Karma Disha a psychometric
counselling program. He spoke of RPL and other key programs and urged the local
industries to join this year's BGBS 2023 at Kolkata.
Shri Sanjay Bansal, IAS, Secretary,
Backward Classes Welfare Department, Government of West Bengal, highlighted the
factors that make Bengal an attractive destination for investment, including
the state's favourable Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) ranking and development
and growth of the MSME sector. He said Bengal
is fast emerging as health care hub. The state offers more than 5000 medical
seats, 6000 nursing seats and 10k paramedical seats. He also shared that the
state has more than 14,000 Cr health budget, approx 1,200 Cr budget for drugs
& equipment, approx 4,000 Cr budget for Medical Insurance to all under
Swasthyasathi. State has free drug policy to reduce out of pocket expenditure
on citizens. He also spoke of the large consumer base with a connect to
neighbouring countries.
Shri Nikhil Nirmal, IAS, Managing Director,
West Bengal Small Industries Development Corporation Limited (WBSIDCL),
Government of West Bengal, provided insights into the MSME sector in West Bengal. West Bengal is home to more than 89 lac
MSMEs making it second highest in India and out which there are more than 29
lacs women led MSMEs which is highest in India. The MSME sector Bengal gives employment to more than 77 lac people. State
has MSME facilitation centre in each district and holds finance clinic in each
district every month to hand hold MSME sector. From web based single window
support system to institution mechanism for grievance redressal, to setting of
industrial parks govt is committed to strengthening infrastructure. He
also spoke of financial support to marketing infrastructure and cluster
development initiatives. He invited industry to take advantage of various
schemes and take benefits of various sectoral parks.
Shri Harish, IFS,
Executive Director of West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation Limited
(WBIDC), Government of West Bengal, shared insights into various aspects of the
state's industrial landscape. He mentioned about the past BGBS events, the no
of MoU’s signed, about the global participation including the partner countries
and the participation of ambassadors. He also mentioned about the Govt's
offerings and shared detail schedule of BGBS 2023, and the activities being
planned during the flagship program. On behalf of Govt of West Bengal, he
requested the delegates which included mainly the local industries for the
active participation in this year's BGBS.
Shri Simarpreet Singh, Co Chairman,
ASSOCHAM Eastern Region, Education Council & Director, JIS Group, provided
his perspective on the opportunities for education and skill development in West Bengal. He mentioned that JIS being one of the large
and old business groups in Bengal have
spearheaded into various sectors with a very strong presence in the education
sector. He shared JIS with the support of Government of West Bengal has built
up a medical college, a commitment that was made during last BGBS has been
fulfilled before BGBS 2023. He invited industry members to visit Bengal and explore the state for various opportunities.
Shri Saikat Biswas, Chairman, ASSOCHAM
Eastern Region Technology Council & Global Head, Medical Devices, Pharma,
Services, Energy & Utilities, DOP, Wipro gave insights on the growing
technology and innovation sector in West Bengal.
He mentioned that how IT/ITeS play a pivotal role towards economic development
of the State and that state has skilled manpower to support the industry
needs.
Shri Komal Dashora, Member, ASSOCHAM
Eastern Region Healthcare Council and Director and President Medica Hospitals
Pvt Ltd, appreciated the proactiveness of Government of West Bengal and
highlighted the developments in the healthcare sector. He spoke how the
healthcare sector has contributed in the industrial ecosystem of Bengal and thanked Government for all kinds of support
being provided to the healthcare industry. He spoke of the
initiatives taken by the government to help industry, such as one officer one
project model, follow up on projects etc. He shared from previous edition of
BGBS summit to this year hospital has invested about 400 crore and is committed
to invest more.
Shri Somesh Dasgupta, Chairman, ASSOCHAM
Eastern Region Energy Sector Council & Whole Time Director, India Power
Corporation Limited (IPCL) highlighted the abundance of quality power of all
industrial needs in Bengal. He invited
businesses to explore Durgapur Asansol Industrial belt that offers most
competitive power rate with assured quality for all kind of industrial
activities. He spoke of state government initiatives to support energy sector
and the commitment of government to ensure power availability to all industrial
activities with focus on green energy.
Shri Suchintya Paul, Member, ASSOCHAM
Manufacturing Council, East and Senior Vice President, Sales, Megatherm
Induction Ltd addressed the opportunities in the manufacturing sector and
highlighted the Govt's role including the schemes and policies towards
development and growth of the manufacturing sector including MSMEs. While
addressing the audience he said Bengal offers,
strategic location, has demographic advantage has both natural and human
resource to be considered as key place for business expansion. He said Bengal’s business environment has made it possible for
several key manufacturing companies to build their strength to be at par with
Global players.
Smt. Perminder Jeet Kaur, Senior Director
for East and North East Head, Eastern Region Development Council, ASSOCHAM,
elaborated on the scope of business opportunities in the state and that the
event in Chandigarh marks the beginning of a
journey towards greater economic cooperation between West Bengal and various
stakeholders across Chandigarh
and the country as a whole.
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