North Bengal Business Meet Draws Rs 24,000 Crore Investment Proposals

Chief secretary H.K. Dwivedi said that the state government has received bids to spend Rs 24,000 crore in north Bengal for a variety of projects that would be completed in two years.

At the North Bengal Business Meet, which took place here on Thursday, he made the assertion.

At Biswa Bangla Shilpi Haat in Kawakhali, on the outskirts of Siliguri, the State MSME & Textiles Department, the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC), and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) organized the meet.

Approximately five hundred entrepreneurs attended the conference.

"During today's meeting, we got investment bids totaling around Rs 24,000 crore.
After the meeting, Dwivedi said, "The majority of the suggested projects will be finished in a year, and the remaining projects will be carried out in two years.

According to the chief secretary, the majority of the bids were from the real estate, hotel, healthcare, MSME, and food and horticulture sectors.

An analogous business summit took place here in February of previous year, at which investment ideas totaling Rs 10,000 crores were presented.

The chief secretary emphasized the steps the state government has done to increase air connectivity in the area during his remarks at the ceremony on Thursday.

"The Airports Authority of India received 100 acres of land from the state government to expand the Bagdogra airport. With the increase in passengers over the years, the airport's current infrastructure has reached its limit. We want the airport to have enough infrastructure, and we've heard that a work order has been issued and the airport's expansion tender procedure has been completed," Dwivedi said.

He mentioned a proposal to increase the size of the Hasimara airport in the Alipurduar area. "Since about 40 acres of land will be acquired for the expansion, a private company must be paid." The chief secretary said, "This has also been resolved.

He said that the government is trying to extend the Cooch Behar airport's runway and that a joint survey for the aerodromes at Malda and Balurghat would soon be carried out.

During the meeting, trade body representatives from many north Bengali areas spoke with government officials, bringing up the need to close several crucial gaps that are delaying investments.

In response, Dwivedi said that an online gateway for the district-level monitoring cell had been requested from the state MSME & textiles department.

"It will accelerate the approval process and completion of required paperwork," the top official said.

Training facility

In Kalimpong, the Mamata Banerjee government will establish a hotel management training institution. The government has declared tourism as an industry and is scheduled to approve a tourist policy shortly.

The planned institution, according to Dwivedi, will be built on a craft institute's 20 acres in the hill town.

"A proposal has been sent to the Center for the required authorization. The initiative would include a public-private cooperation, he said.