Kolkata Mar 28 PTI The West Bengal government on Monday held a roadshow in Chennai to promote the sixth edition of a state business summitThe roadshow was organised in association with Assocham to highlight the states unique business opportunities strategic location advantage and availability of human resource capital with investor-friendly policiesThe next edition of the Bengal Global Business Summit will be held on April 20-21Around 200 delegates participated in the roadshow and 20 meetings with potential investors were held the official saidDuring the outreach programme a government delegation led by West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation chairman Rajiva Sinha highlighted the potential areas for investments in various sectors such as biotechnology food processing mobility IT E services logistics and ports with traditional industries of tea and juteThe government delegation also pointed out the states capacity of withstanding the macro-economic shocks due to COVID-19 as West Bengal was one of the two states to record positive growth in the pandemic era the official saidThe state witnessed a growth of 12 per cent despite the pandemic in 2020-21 Post-COVID Bengals economy is projected to achieve higher growth much more than the national average Sinha saidHe also elaborated on the facilitative policy environment for setting up manufacturing units and the growth of the service sector in the regionThe two-day summit in April will have plenary and sectoral sessions business-to-government and business-to-business interactions apart from providing digital space for exhibitions and business networkingThe focus sectors for this summit include infrastructure agriculture and allied activities MSMEs health and education tourism international trade IT ITeS and miningThe state has received business proposals worth Rs 1235578 crore in the earlier five editions of BGBS PTI BSM BDC BDC

New Delhi Mar 25 PTI West Bengal is creating an ecosystem for industries to invest and by relaxing compliance requirements it has made it easier for businesses to put in their capital a senior state government official said on Friday In the run up to the Bengal Global Business Summit to be held from April 21-22 West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation WBIDC Chairman Rajiva Sinha said there is no dearth of infrastructure as the current state government has spent the first five years of its stint in developing the same We did not have much to market in the past Now we are proudly saying that we have the prowess to invite to invest he said The summit to be organised jointly by CII Confederation of Indian Industry and WBIDC will see participation from domestic businesses as well as foreign entrepreneurs Sinha said that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has repeatedly emphasised over the last 3-4 months that her three priorities are industry industry and industry We are creating an ecosystem for the Industry to invest This is the time when industries can come to Bengal industries in Bengal can expand Bengal can be seen as a sourcing and warehousing destination Sinha said Summing up on his message to the investor community Sinha said Welcome to Bengal and you will not be disappointed West Bengals GDP has been growing at an average of 126 per cent between 2015-16 and 2020-2021 In 2020-21 the states GDP stood at Rs 1444 lakh crore USD 20664 billion Inviting businesses to the two-day summit Sinha said Bengals growth rate is faster than the national average and unlike the earlier perception it is much easier to do businesses in the state The state government spent its first five years investing in infrastructure while its second term was dedicated to empowerment bringing around 70 lakh people under social safety net There is no societal pressure on what to eat what to watch or which festival to celebrate he said adding that it is a very cosmopolitan state of 11 crore people He said that West Bengal has the tremendous potential to serve as a gateway to the East and northeast and the major game-changer would be the establishment of the deep-sea port which is proposed to be established shortly to facilitate overseas tradeHe elaborated on the facilitative policy environment for setting up educational and healthcare institutions in the state under the Public-Private Partnership PPP model He also mentioned that the government has provided a primacy of place to skill development Sinha further elucidated that the government had taken major strides in the ease of doing business even prior to the start of the rankings for the same As a result compliances have been reduced and business laws have been worked upon and simplified During the last decade the number of manhours lost by businesses owing to strikes and lock-outs have been reduced to almost nil Besides the government is geared towards providing training and upskilling and it bears the entire cost of training the workers he said PTI JD JD RUJ RUJ