Bengal targets 9% SDP growth, 7 lakh additional employment

Kolkata, Nov 01 (UNI) The West Bengal government today spelled out a roadmap of an average 9 per cent growth in State Domestic Product (SDP) over the next five years to achieve additional employment to seven lakh people every year.

The growth can be achieved through more than four per cent agricultural growth, over seven per cent growth in industry in organised and unorganised sector and above 11 per cent growth in the services sector, state Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta said.

Mr Dasgupta was speaking at an interactive session on "Roadmap for Economic Development in West Bengal" at the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BNCCI).

The state is also targetting to reduce those living below the poverty level (BPL) to 10 per cent in five years from 22 per cent in 2004-05, the minister said.

He termed the small scale sector as main driver for growth of the state and said small farmers have proved to be the optimum producers in agriculture and needs to be encouraged to enable higher growth.

He said the state is targetting 80 per cent irrigation coverage from 71 per cent now and 100 per cent seed distribution coverage in the next five years.

The state having a 3.4 per cent agricultural growth could easily achieve over four per cent targetted growth for the period, he said.

Mr Dasgupta said the state is also trying to increase agricultural credit to Rs 10,000 crore from Rs 2,900 crore now over the five year period and hopes to set up one multi-purpose cold storage facility in every block.

Bengal with 7.4 per cent SDP at present has attracted investment in iron and steel, food, petrochemicals and leather and is trying to make setting up of small units hassle free to encourage entrepreneurship, the minister said.

"We hope the agriculture and allied sector to create three lakh additional employment, the industry to create 3.5 lakh employment and rest to come from the services sector with the increase in productivity," he said.

He said the state has seen a 20 per cent growth in VAT collections and a 26 per cent growth in excise collections within six months.

"We are aiming to increase our planned budget to Rs 20,000 crore from Rs 8,000 crore in the five year period," he added.

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