Bengal woos investors with govt land

MUMBAI: At a time when availability of land has become a crucial obstacle for industrial projects nationally and has been an important issue of debate at the Centre, the state of West Bengal is planning to tap over one lakh acres available with the government in a bid to woo investors back to the state. Confirming the development, the state's finance minister Amit Mitra, told TOI, “We are pro-poor and pro-business.Bengal is one case where reality is significantly better than per ception. The question of land acquisition doesn't arise. The government and its various departments have over one lakh acres of ready land bank, which we have decided to give to busi ness houses to set up industries.“ West Bengal, under Mamata Banerjee's regime, has been competing hard for bigticket investments against other states such as Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, among others.Highlighting the financial achievements of the state, Mitra said, “Tata Metaliks, a group company of the Tata Group, has been recently allotted 300 acres for expansion. As many as seven MDs of various Tata Group companies have already met the chief minister . Besides, TCS is hiring over 20,000 employees in West Bengal to implement our e-governance project.“Mitra was in Mumbai for a roadshow to promote `Bengal Global Business Summit 2016' to be held in Kolkata over January 7-9, 2016, and showcase the investment opportunities available in West Bengal.