Mamata Banerjee's West Bengal govt gives nod to set up 100 industrial parks

Kolkata, Sep 10: Facing criticism for failing to attract investment, West Bengal's Trinamool Congress government has announced several sops for businessmen, including setting up of 100 industrial parks in the state to boost employment generation.

Addressing the media, state Home Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay said that the 'West Bengal Incentive Scheme-2014 for Government Approved Industrial Parks' would focus on the micro, small and medium enterprises.

Launched in 2014, the scheme has been extended for another five years.

According to the secretary, as many as fourteen parks, spread over 1,300 acres of land were already being developed under private partnerships. "The government has decided to expand the scheme to 100 suchparks to increase job opportunities in the MSME sector," he said.

The government's announcement comes months before the 2021 Assembly elections in the state. With this decision, the ruling TMC aims to blunt BJP's strategy to corner the government over an alleged slump in new investments.

Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar has sought details from the government as how much of the investments announced in the last five editions of Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) fructified.

Earlier, BJP national general secretary and party's state in-charge Kailash Vijayvargiya posted a tweet, saying, "Why is there no new investment in Bengal? What's the point of organising business summits and signing MOUs when they don't result in actual investments? Who is benefiting from organizing these jamborees? @MamataOfficial should answer these difficult questions."

Under the scheme, the government would reimburse Rs 2 core for an industrial park spread over 20-39 acres, Rs 4 crore for 40-59 acres, Rs 6 crore for 60-79 acres, Rs 8 crore for 80-99 acres and Rs 10 crore or more for 100-plus acres. To claim this incentive, industries have to spend 20 per cent of project cost on common facility centres.