The Hindu Business Line : Bengal investment outlook unaffected by land rows: Sen

Unaffected
Work is on full swing to implement at least four to five big ticket industrial proposals in West Midnapore, Bankura, Purulia and Burdwan districts
Tata Motor facility at Singur near Kolkata is now progressing fast
State Govt has shifted its focus on a number of major investments especially in the iron and steel sector.

Mr Nirupam Sen

Kolkata. May 15

The controversies over the acquisition of land for Tata Motors' small car project at Singur and police firing at Nandigram, where lands were have to been acquired for a Special Economic Zone by the Salim Group of Malaysia, may have created trouble for the West Bengal Government on the political front but they have not left any impact on the investment outlook, according to Mr Nirupam Sen, State Commerce and Industry Minister.

"Not a single promised investment proposal in the State has been withdrawn. On the contrary, work is on full swing to implement at least four to five big ticket industrial proposals in West Midnapore, Bankura, Purulia and Burdwan districts.

"All these industries are anchor investments in nature and will attract investments in ancillary sector in due course," he told Business Line.

Describing the controversy over land acquisition for industry as a nationwide phenomenon, Mr Sen said the recent controversy would help pave the way for industrialisation of backward areas such as West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia. "In a way, the disadvantage has turned into an advantage," he said.

While the implementation of the Tata Motor facility at Singur near Kolkata is now progressing fast and without much trouble, the State Government has shifted its focus on a number of major investments proposed especially in the iron and steel sector in the other parts of the State.

Among the major investments are the four-million-tonne integrated steel plant by Jindal Steel at Salboni in West Midnapore worth around Rs 10,000 crore; the Rs 250-crore Telco Construction Equipment Company (a Tata Motors - Hitachi joint venture) for earthmoving equipment at Kharagpur in the same district and the Balaji steel plant in Purulia. This will be the second manufacturing facility of the company in West Bengal.

Also under implementation is a greenfield facility by Bhushan Steel at Salanpur near Asansol. This apart a few existing iron and steel companies are going in for capacity expansion.

"We are now focussed on replicating the Tata Motors Singur model - where all land-losers especially marginal and small farmers are made a stakeholder in the development process through various rehabilitation schemes apart from fiscal compensation - in the new project areas," Mr Sen said.

Among the schemes launched are imparting necessarily industrial training to agricultural labourers, creation of a skilled workforce from the local population, encouraging local women in forming co-operatives for supplying various consumables to the industry, offering business space to small and marginal land losers and others.

"To us the problem is more social than political. Those having a marginal existence in the rural economy are concerned about their future existence, which is duly misused by the Opposition. We are trying to address these concerns," Mr Sen said.

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