Kolkata: Claiming that Singur setback has
not rung the death knell for industries in West Bengal, Chief
Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today said the state
attracted investment proposals worth Rs 9,000 crore last year.
"We suffered a setback in setting up the small car
factory at Singur, but that has not stopped us. In the last
year, the state has seen an investment of Rs 9,000 crore and
this year it will be more," Bhattacharjee said.
He was laying foundation stone of a Rs 205-crore
`common facility centre` on the southern outskirts of the city
which will provide technical and marketing assistance to 240
small fan-manufacturing units.
The units were on the verge of closure after Usha Fans
closed down eight years back.
He said large plants like a steel factory in Salboni
in West Midnapore district by Jindal group, a manure plant at
Panagarh by Essar, Aretropolis in Andul and an electronic hub
in Siliguri were coming up, Bhattacharjee said.
"IT giants like Infosys and Wipro have also expressed
their desire to set up companies which will provide jobs to
thousands of students," the chief minister said.
The chief minister underlined the importance of
small-scale units which, he says, has two advantages. First,
they require less capital to set up and second, they have a
very large employment potential.
In this connection he cited the instance of the
project the foundation stone of which he laid today.
"The common facility centre will cheer up 3000
families," Bhattacharjee said.
PTI
