Kolkata: At the inaugural session of the fourth Bengal Global Business Summit, industry captains made an investment pledge of around Rs 17,000 crore to the Mamata government. Reliance Industries Limited Chairman Mukesh Ambani was the first to announce his company’s plans for the state. Reliance plans to manufacture mobile phones and set-top boxes in Bengal and also invest Rs 5,000 crore in non-Jio businesses across the state in the next three years. Ambani said Reliance has already invested Rs 15,000 crore in Bengal in the last two years.
Sajjan Jindal of JSW Steel announced that his company will invest Rs 10,000 crore in Bengal. “We have made a blueprint to invest over Rs 10,000 crore over the next three to four years in various sectors besides steel, paint, expansion of cement and power,” he said.
The chairman of R P Sanjiv Goenka Group, Sanjiv Goenka, announced that besides setting up a hospital in Kolkata, his company will invest Rs 1,000 crore in a power distribution network. “In Bengal, business is treated with dignity, respect, warmth and love. We feel wanted and loved. This is a government with a heart and I am committed to investing more here. We are investing in building a world-class hospital. It will be a new hospital attached to our existing one, Woodlands. We have been constantly investing in power,” Goenka said.
He added: “In the next 18 months, we will invest another Rs 1,000 crore in power distribution network. We are committed to setting up an FMCG park in one of our properties. We are committed to building a new carbon black plant in Durgapur, in the area of specialty carbon. All these will begin very soon.”
Steel baron L N Mittal assured that his family foundation, L N Mittal Foundation, will invest in Bengal if such an opportunity arises in the future. Spice Jet Chairman Ajay Singh said the company would explore the possibility of manufacturing sea planes in Bengal. He also announced that Spice Jet will start flights from Greenfield airport at Andal in Burdwan to Hyderabad and Bangalore. “We are exploring opportunities to fly sea planes in Bengal to boost tourism. The state has potential to turn it into a hub of sea planes, which will fly to Gangasagar and Sundarbans. We will also start flights from Kolkata to Chittagong and also in other ASEAN countries,” he added.
Niranjan Hiranandani, chairman and managing director of realty firm Hiranandani Communities and chairman of H-Energy, said domestic gas connectivity will start in Kolkata within two years. “Gas shall come to Kolkata in the next 24 months. Our target is also to set up gas retail outlets in the next 36 months in at least five districts of Bengal and then in other states. Our next target is to provide gas to Bangladesh through Bengal… This is our desire and ambition for the next five years,” he said.
Saroj Kumar Poddar, chairman of Adventz Group of companies, announced an investment of Rs 1,000 crore for Bengal. Kishor Biyani of Future Group and head of Kotak Mahindra Bank, Uday Kotak, praised the CM for turning the state into a new investment destination.
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