Bengal gets investment proposals worth Rs 3.42 trillion: Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the state received investment proposals worth Rs 3.42 trillion during the sixth Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS), and this amount of investment will help the state create around 40 lakh new jobs across sectors.

Banerjee said a total of 137 Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) and Letters of Intent (LoI) were signed for the proposed investments during the event. Companies like GAIL, ONGC, Adani Group, JSW Group among others are planning to invest in the state.

GAIL said its Bengal Gas Company (a joint venture of GAIL and Greater Calcutta Gas Supply Corporation) will invest around Rs 5,000 crore in West Bengal. GAIL is currently implementing projects worth over Rs 4,000 crore in the state. ONGC is also planning to invest around Rs 1,500 crore in the next three-four years on exploration and extraction projects in the state.

On the first day of the summit, Gautam Adani, Chairman of Adani Group, said his group will invest over Rs 10,000 crore over the next 10 years in Bengal and this investment will help the state create employment opportunities for 25,000 people. Similarly, Sajjan Jindal, Chairman, JSW group, said the group is looking at setting up a 900 MW pump storage hydel power project in the state and also setting up a rolling shop for the steel industry near Kolkata.

The Hiranandani Group is also looking to set up a data centre in Bengal as well as an industrial and logistics park across 100 acres of land. The group is also looking at investing in natural gas infrastructure across five districts in the state.

Speaking at the farewell session of the BGBS, Banerjee said, “Pandemic will come and go. But our life and livelihood are most important. This summit has been a remarkable success. It is the global industrial festival. It is the festival for industry.” She added that around 500 foreign delegates from 42 countries attended the event. She also urged industrialists to invest more and more in Bengal. “If you invest more and more here, Bengal would surely become the top industrial state,” she said.