• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Our Bureau

As per statistics published by the Union Commerce and Industries Department, between January and August 2002, West Bengal was among the top performers in respect of attracting industrial investment.

KOLKATA, Feb. 18

THE West Bengal Government has stepped up the monitoring of industrial projects in the State with a view to improving the pace of implementation.

Officials in the State Industries Department said that monitoring activity in the Industry Directorate has been strengthened of late, with officers now chasing entrepreneurs.

They said that the Directorate was responsible for giving registration certificates to units on the basis of which the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (the State's apex industry promotion agency) provides eligibility certificates for incentives.

"Projects are monitored from the time of granting of the Industrial Entrepreneurs Memorandum (IEM),'' sources said, adding that with the recent computerisation of the entire process, monitoring was much easier.

As per available information, 19 industrial projects entailing an investment of Rs 759.2 crore is currently under implementation in the State which opened its doors to private capital through a liberalised industrial policy in 1994. The hallmark of that approach was an open door policy for the private sector and the identification of certain thrust areas.

Some of the major projects are the Rs 214-crore mining project of the RPG group, Rs 182.6-crore steel project of the Manaksia group, a vanaspati and refined oil project and the kitchen appliances project of Videocon. One of these projects, that of the Manaksia Group, was implemented last week.

As per statistics published by the Union Commerce and Industries Department, between January and August 2002, West Bengal was among the top performers in respect of attracting industrial investment.

The State was listed among the five leading States in this respect with investment of Rs 6,639 crore flowing in through 189 approvals. The other States in this list are Punjab (Rs 10,544 crore), Maharashtra (Rs 9,272 crore), Gujarat (Rs 8,495 crore) and Andhra Pradesh ( Rs 2,685 crore).

These statistics show that between August 1991 and August 2001, investments to the tune of Rs 27,284 crore came into West Bengal through 292 project proposals.

Although three projects — the modernisation of the Durgapur Steel Plant, the Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd and the Mitsubishi PTA project, contributed to the chunk of this investment, industry analysts say that the removal of the licensing system in July 1991 and withdrawal of the freight equalisation policy has improved the State's prospects of attracting capital.

Between January and December 2002, altogether 103 projects were implemented with an investment of Rs 2,231 crore against Rs 2194 crore of the same period in 2001.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication

Stories in this Section
`Duty cuts must to enthuse auto consumers'

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line