In line with KPMG’s report, Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee iterated that West Bengal is suffering an image loss on the backdrop of Singur and Nandigram incidents.
“Citing Singur as an example, a lot of negative propaganda has started pouring in. It is being told that West Bengal does not have a stand point when it comes to industrialisation in the state,” Chatterjee said. He was present at the closing ceremony of the 22nd Industrial India Trade Fair jointly organised by the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the state government.
Chatterjee, who had been the chairman of West Bengal Industrial Development Corp before he was elected the speaker of the Lok Sabha, said: “I have come across such propaganda even in Delhi. I tried to counter them in my own way.”
Earlier, West Bengal ranked 14th in the KPMG’s survey of the entrepreneurs’ perception of various parameters among 15 states. The survey pointed out West Bengal’s variance with other states “could be a result of a disrupted socio-political environment and a perception of having more militant trade unions.”
“An automobile factory was to be set up in the state. I am sorry to say that they have pulled out. We must understand development can not be a matter of confrontation,” Chatterjee said.
The state’s commerce & industries minister Nirupam Sen also sounded apprehensive on the impact of the economic meltdown on the state’s investment environment.
“In 1990s the average investment per year was actually Rs 500 crore. During the first half of the present year, it crossed Rs 5000 crore.
“I don’t know how it will impact our future although investors have shown a lot of interest in investing in West Bengal and have shown no adverse or negative trends (so far),” Sen said.