Buddha invites ministers to McKinsey meet

KOLKATA: In view of the controversy within the state cabinet over the proposals made by the McKinsey & Co , the US based consultant for the government, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has asked almost a dozen ministers to join a meeting of the state investment promotion board to hear the company representatives on Tuesday.
Mckinsey representatives will submit their final report on the investment possibilities in IT and agri-business, particularly food processing.“They have not only identified possible investors in both the sectors but also held preliminary negotiations with them,’’ said Bhattacharjee. The meeting of the board, second after its formation, would review the investment scenario in the state till August 2002.
Big guns like Pepsi are interested in bottling green coconut water as well as procuring pulps of fruits like mango, litchi and pineapple. “They are not interested in the primary processing but in processing of pulps and marketing. It is our small-scale units which will do the primary processing. This would help both the local growers as well as local industry,’’ said state industry minister Nirupam Sen. However, he was rather cautious against painting a rosy picture in view of the overall bleak scenario due to the worldwide industrial recession.