West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has made a spirited appeal to India Inc to invest in her State.

In her own distinct style during the 85th Annual General Meeting of FICCI, she said: “Our talent is very good. Our talent works everywhere from NASA to ‘Bhasha’ and from computer to compounder. If you want to nurture it, invest in the State, don’t worry.”

She also claimed that labour was “very cheap” in Bengal, adding, “We don’t allow factory to close down and strike as they earlier used to.”

Mamata said forceful acquisition of land was not conducive for setting up of industries. “Sometimes, people say ‘acquire the land, fire the people and then build industry’. Industry cannot be set up if there is disturbance, (if) there are goons and guns; industry can only be set up in a peaceful manner in peaceful areas and co-exist with the common people,” she said.

“We have land bank, you come and invest and I will give you land — whatever is available. You purchase the land, I will give you the permission,” she assured.

The State Government has taken up e-tendering and e-governance initiatives during the last one-and-a-half-year of her rule, she said. The tax collection has also seen a jump of 35 per cent. While the GDP growth of the country was 5.5 per cent in the first quarter of this fiscal, it was 6.94 per cent in Bengal, she said.

Mamata also claimed a significant change in work culture in West Bengal, noting that man days lost has come down significantly from 65 lakh in 2010-11 to 5,000 this year.

> shishir.sinha@thehindu.co.in

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