West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday made yet another appeal to all industry captains to consider the State as an attractive investment destination.

Highlighting the positives in the State, she maintained that there has been a distinct improvement in work culture ever since the Trinamool Congress came to power.

Number of man-days lost has come down from 68 lakh in 2009-10 to 5,000 in the last one year.

“This goes to show that if you have the will things can be done. There has been a marked improvement in man-days lost in the State,” Banerjee said during her inaugural speech at Pan IIT — a global conference of IIT alumni.

Pointing out that the State is making good signs of economic progress, she said the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) in the first quarter of this financial year (2012-13) has grown faster, compared to the nation as a whole.

In the fist quarter of 2012-13, the country’s GDP grew by 5.5 per cent, while Bengal’s GSDP grew at 6.94 per cent. Similar reforms in tax collections such as electronic submission of forms and e-tendering has seen tax collections ion the State jump up by 35 per cent so far during this fiscal.

Fiscal mess

She, however, said the State was in a fiscal mess because of the mismanagement by the erstwhile Left Front Government.

Wooing industrialists and entrepreneurs, the Chief Minister said favourable climate for investment exists in the State, and it has already rolled out its IT police, set-up a land bank, and a Web-based employment bank.

Entertainment, film sector

She further added that the State would also welcome investments in the entertainment and film sector. The State Government was also planning to have three film cities in Siliguri (North Bengal), Uttarpara and Sabujdweep (in Hooghly district).

>abhishek.l@thehindu.co.in