West Bengal is readying slew of new policies to be unveiled at the 7th edition of Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) which is scheduled on November 21–22 in Kolkata, Amit Mitra, Principal Chief Advisor to the Chief minister of West Bengal, has said.
This is part of West Bengal’s overall efforts to further strengthen its industrial landscape and position the State for the next round of growth in the coming years. Mitra however declined to specify the new policy areas that are in the works, stating that they would be made public on November 21-22.
Mitra said there is a feeling in the air among both people from abroad and local industry that Bengal is the place to go.
Mitra said he expects even greater investment commitment in this year’s Global Business Summit (to be organised along with CII) and also international participation with technology focused entities will be a new development.
Reeling out data to show how the State has progressed in the recent decade, Mitra highlighted that capital outlay, which was ₹2,226 crore in 2010-11, is projected to increase to ₹34,026 crore in 2023-24 ie a growth at 15.3 times.
Mitra also said that the West Bengal is set to close the current fiscal with a GSDP of ₹17 lakh crore.
“IT data centres has become a big area and we are getting lot of response. We also see future IT areas as focus area. You are looking at an IT explosion. Already TCS employs 55,000 people in West Bengal. It will employ another 15,000 in new campus. They will have workforce which will be more than Bengaluru”, Mitra said when asked about the sectors that would be focus areas for the State.
“We see Bengal with the human capital, with discipline, with stable government that works with industry, many new sectors will appear where Bengal can do well in the coming days”.
West Bengal’s vision is to facilitate industry, let them choose the core competencies and the State would provide the capacity to do so through policy and structure, he added.
Mitra was in the capital for an interactive session with Industry Stakeholders as a precursor to the Bengal Global Business Summit 2023.
As a prelude to the Summit, a roadshow was organised to deliberate on the trade and investment opportunities in the State of West Bengal and further strengthen bilateral relations and cooperation.
Major business stakeholders of West Bengal , 200+ Industry participants from Delhi along with the state government delegation attended the roadshow.
Business Leaders of West Bengal spoke about their experiences of working in the State across manufacturing , health care , food processing , education , startup , hospitality and logistics sectors and highlighted the huge industry potential of the State.
Bengal Global Business Summit 2023 envisions bringing together corporate leaders, business delegations, entrepreneurs, academia, and think – tanks from around the globe with the purpose of making strategic and business alliances as well as to deliberate on the industrial ecosystem and business friendly initiatives of the State.