Amader ekhane locally fata fati lichu ebong mango hoye. Unfortunately loke der bari te.

Here in USA we get canned lichies round the year, these are in syrup. They are delicious and are from Thailand,Malaya, Vietnam. In Bengal when you have bumper crop you eat as much as you could , rest goes to cow feed. Food processing dont exit there!
Yes, you are right we get delicious Bengali food here in New Jersey/NY area . We even have Bengali Sweet House who makes Kolkata style sandesh and their technicians are from Kolkata. When we visit Kolkata sometimes we miss real Bangla food of American origin!! Food wise we are happy here.:cheers:

I have heard that Bangladeshi restaurants even have malpoa and sandesh in lunch buffets. I guess New York area bongs are spoilt for choice for Bengali/Desi food.

I heard that too. In LA most bangladeshi restaurants sell Indian food(I mean same boring chicken butter masala, paneer masala, that red color chicken tandoori or masala dosa). I hardly go to Indian restaurant. I will prefer cooking at home. Though, there is small bangladeshi shop near our apt which sells daal, bhat, rui/ilish maach bhaja, aloo bhaja, chochoriii, begun bhaja, chicken(pati murgir jhol sunday style), mutton or beef curry(with big big aloo) :). Thats awesome.. :cheers:

I heard that too. In LA most bangladeshi restaurants sell Indian food(I mean same boring chicken butter masala, paneer masala, that red color chicken tandoori or masala dosa). I hardly go to Indian restaurant. I will prefer cooking at home. Though, there is small bangladeshi shop near our apt which sells daal, bhat, rui/ilish maach bhaja, aloo bhaja, chochoriii, begun bhaja, chicken, mutton or beef curry(with big big aloo) :). Thats awesome.. :cheers:

Most Indian/Bangladeshi restaurants sell very spicy foods. Our children dont like that much of spices. So we also prefer to cook at home and eat our own way.

WB Govt to set up cold storages in districts under PPP (http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/wb-govt-to-set-up-cold-storages-in-districts-under-ppp/719736.html)


PTI | 11:06 PM,Jun 08,2011

Kolkata, Jun 8 (PTI) The West Bengal government will set up cold storages in the districts under the Public-Private Partnership to prevent wastage of horticultural products."A large quantity of fruits and vegetables perish owing to lack of proper storage. I proposed to the Chief Minister that at least 10 cold storages be set up in every district. She has approved the proposal," Agriculture Marketing Minister Arup Roy said today.He said that the cold storages would be set up in the PPP model.Pointing out that the demand-supply gap for onion and garlic increased during off season, Roy said that to bridge the gap, two cold storages each with a capacity of 1,000 tonne, would be set up at Bagnan in Howrah district and Pandua in Hooghly district.

Jay Shree eyes expansion in sugar

cc: TNN

B K Birla Group company, Jay Shree Tea & Industries, which has forayed into sugar industries last year through acquisition of MP Chini, plans to expand in the sector in another two-three years. The company is increasing power generation capacity close to four times in the sugar factory, managing director D P Maheshwari said.
“We see great scope in sugar. We first want to feel the industry as we have not even completed one year. We have every intention to expand but that will take some time. We want to feel the results and get ourselves fully engrained in the working, and then, after another 2-3 years, we will grow,” he said on the sidelines of an extraordinary general meeting of the company.
The EGM was held for considering amalgamation between MP Chini, Parvati Tea and Jay Shree Tea.
“We want to raise power capacity to 22MW from just 6MW now. For power we have already engaged some consultants, who are now working on it. Maybe in the next 3-4 months’ time we will have concrete suggestions with us. Then it depends how much time we take to deploy that much money,” he said.
Jay Shree Tea bought MP Chini in Bihar in 2010 for Rs 112 crore. Maheswari said there is lot of scope in Bihar for sugar industry as there are many closed units. M P Chini is hoping to double production to 5 crore kg this season from 2.7 crore kg from the time of acquisition.

The Telegraph

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv214/SarafIndian3/09_06_2011_008_006.jpg

Howrah to get knowledge-cum-poly park

A Rs.25 crore knowledge centre-cum-poly park is all set to come up at Sankrail in West Bengal's Howrah district to cater to the needs of a host of people including entrepreneurs, consumers and the government, the president of the PlastIndia Foundation said.

"Set up in collaboration with the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation, the Poly Park will cater to needs of a number of people. It will provide a platform for people to know about the utility and necessity of plastic in human life," said Ashok Goel, president of PlastIndia Foundation.

The park, to be built on a 60-acre plot, will cost Rs.25 crore is likely to be thrown open to public next year, said Goel.

Goel also said that the Foundation would start demo-model plants in all the metropolices, which will use non-recycled garbage to recycle and produce poly-lumber, which can be used as a substitute for wood.

On plastic being a threat to the environment, Sourabh Khemani, chairman PlastIndia, said: "Plastic used to be threat. But not anymore. Most of the plastic used is now recycled. Recycling units have come all across the country and with the model plants there won't be any plastic that would be rendered as garbage. There is a tremendous potential for plastic in India."

Plastindia Foundation is the apex body of major associations, organisations and institutions connected with plastics.

http://www.newkerala.com/news/2011/worldnews-2571.html

The Telegraph

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv214/SarafIndian3/09_06_2011_008_006.jpg

They had already acquired the land as of 2010 (http://www.thehindubusinessline.in/bline/2010/05/10/stories/2010051051790200.htm) but were looking for "strategic investors". Hopefully they have found those investors.

If we go by the number of gold and diamond jewellery advertisements in newspapers, magazines and hoardings plus all the jewellery stores there never seemed to be any dearth of "optimism" before.

Now that a new govt is in place there are no more stories from TOI or Telegraph are no longer weeping about how the government is going to pay the salaries.

:lol:

Here's another good news

Bankrupt Bengal in for Rs 2750cr financial boost

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata-/Bankrupt-Bengal-in-for-Rs-2750cr-financial-boost/articleshow/8784309.cms

Debt-ridden West Bengal is in for an unexpected financial windfall. Additional revenue from coal cess and incremental income tax collection could help the new government tide over the initial crisis.

Together, the figure could well be close to the proposed initial market borrowing of Rs 3,000 crore the government is going in for.

The exchequer will get about Rs 652 crore as additional revenue from coal cess in 2011-12 while its share of income tax collected from the state would rise by Rs2,100 crore, sources in the government said.

A massive coal price hike earlier this year will see the state's earnings from coal cess double from Rs798 crore to Rs 1,450 crore. Income-tax collection from the state has also jumped by almost 50% - from Rs 15,000 crore to over Rs 22,000 crore - in 2010-11. This is largely due to better tax compliance by corporate houses. It works out to an increase in Rs 7,000 crore in income-tax collection from the state. "A state government generally gets around 30% of the income-tax collection from the state. So, the increase in the state government's share from income tax could be Rs2,100 crore," the sources said.

IVRCL bags orders worth Rs 900 crore
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/indl-goods-/-svs/construction/ivrcl-bags-orders-worth-rs-900-crore/articleshow/8772908.cms

Infrastructure Company IVRCL has bagged projects worth Rs 900 crore to implement several projects in the water, buildings, power and transportation division, a company statement said. The company will be implementing these projects in Gujarat and West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Dubai.

Of the total contracts, the company's buildings division has won contracts worth Rs 517 crore which include constructing a new hospital building in Valsad, Gujarat, a lift pump house for NTPC's thermal power plant in Farakka, and a high rise building for Bengal Shristi Infrastructure Development in Asansol in West Bengal. IVRCL's water division has won contracts worth Rs 295 crore in Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Dubai and Kolkata.

IVRCL is also undertaking the work of Kolkata BRTS!!

Has this been posted earlier?

http://www.merlinprojects.com/navigator.php?Pdetails=6

Merlin Uttara is coming up at Uttarpara - Konnagar stretch, where history echoes in the streets and heritage rules. Konnagar is the birthplace of Sri Aurobindo, the legendary nationalist and religious leader alongwith Sisir Kumar Mitra, the famous physicist and Shafiur Rahman, the martyr of Language Movement in East Pakistan. Konnagar was also the hometown of Shib Chandra Deb, the famous Derozian and Brahmo leader of nineteenth century. The revolutionary business franchisee innovator Sir Thomas Bata started his venture in Konnagar, making this area a zone of advancement, culture and refined livelihood.

Merlin Uttara is just 5 minutes from ferry ghat
Konnagar Railway station is just 10 minutes from the complex
Situated by G.T. Road
Just 2 km away from Uttarpara Library....

^^yep in Kolkata part, snce Konnagar comes under KMDA!!

Bengal to acquire 400 acres at Singur to return to farmers

http://mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=local&newsid=243979

The West Bengal government Thursday promulgated an ordinance to acquire 400 acres of land at Singur to return it to the farmers, from whom it was taken "against their will" by the previous Left Front regime for the Tata Motors Nano small car project.

"We have promulgated an ordinance. By the ordinance, we will return 400 acres of land at Singur to the unwilling farmers. Cabinet had already taken the decision. The governor has signed the ordinance. The remaining 600 acres of land will be available for industry," Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told reporters here.

"Tatas had told the previous government that they do not want to set up a factory here, and should be given compensation. If they want compensation, then it would be carried out by an arbitrator. We have no objection to give compensation," she said.

"Tatas can set up industry on the remaining 600 acres of land at Singur. The option is open," she said.

"I am very happy today. May be today is Singur day," she added.

Commenting on the development, a Tata Motors spokesperson said: "We are not aware of such a development, and we do not want to make any comment unless we have studied the ordinance."

Heard the news, but nothing seemed so clear, what ordinance is Mamta talking bout??...m totally..:?

Also the arbitrator that MB would recruit, will he be a neutral guy?

I dont understand why they keep repeating how Tata can come up with industry on other 600 acres.I cant debate on whether rest 400 acres of land was taken forcibly or not,we dont know the details,best not to come to conclusions.

But the rest 600 acres is made up of fragmented parcels of land.What good would that be for coming up with anything?

I dont understand why they keep repeating how Tata can come up with industry on other 600 acres.

Mamata is keeping that option open. That makes her sound reasonable.

I cant debate on whether rest 400 acres of land was taken forcibly or not,we dont know the details,best not to come to conclusions.

Yes, the new government needs to come clean on details. Already it is telling that those who took cheques may have been forced to take cheques and so they can also claim to be unwilling. This probably points to what has already been said before - that the quantum of "disputed" land is a lot less than 400 acres. Heard on TV that the state govt will decide who is unwilling farmer. Hopefully this will be a transparent and public process.

But the rest 600 acres is made up of fragmented parcels of land.What good would that be for coming up with anything?

I don't think that they are promising to return the same land that the farmers owned. So there will be no fragmentation.

Mamata fulfils promise, takes back Singur land

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/mamata-fulfils-promise-takes-back-singur-land/438609/

In an unprecedented move, the West Bengal government today issued an ordinance for taking back the entire land allocated to Tata Motors and its vendors at Singur.

The ordinance was signed by Governor M K Narayanan today, said Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

“The disputed 400 acres will be returned to the farmers while Tata Motors is welcome to set up its project on the remaining 600 acres,” she said.

Banerjee’s party, the Trinamool Congress, has been alleging that 400 acres was acquired forcibly.

A Tata Motors spokesperson said: “We are not aware of such a development and we do not want to make any comment unless we have studied the ordinance.”

“I have no idea. There has been no communication from their side. I feel sorry for the farmers because the land they will get back cannot be tilled,” said Sona Koyo Steering Systems Chairman and Managing Director, Surinder Kapur. Sona Koya is one of the 54 vendors.

Tata Motors, however, continued to pay the lease rent, though Banerjee today cited non-performance on the company’s part. But the state government was willing to compensate Tata Motors if it decided not to set up a project on the other 600 acres, which would be set aside for public purposes, she said.

“In the event Tata Motors decides not to set up any project, arbitrators will decide the appropriate compensation,” she said. Tata Motors had indicated to the previous government that it would give up the land if it was compensated with around Rs 550 crore. Sources close to the development said a legal battle between the two could not be ruled out.

“We will definitely seek compensation,” Kapur said.

When asked if he would explore legal options, he said, “We will have to go through the ordinance.” A legal expert said an ordinance could always be challenged.

The earlier Left government had said the disputed land was much less than 400 acres.

“Those who lost 244 acres did not take cheques. Of this, many had disputes over ownership and some did not have titles. So, who will get back the 400 acres?” asked a Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader.

The move, being seen as unilateral, has taken both India Inc and the political parties by surprise. Top leaders of the Congress, a partner of the Trinamool Congress in the state government, said they were clueless about the decision.

While Karnataka does not have an example of government allotting land for industries and then taking it back, there are some instances where the state has taken back close to 500 acres during the past three years.

“Some companies who got land for projects were sitting on it for 8-10 years. We have taken back such land,” said Murugesh R Nirani, minister for large & medium industries, Karnataka government.

^^ :nuts:

Mamata is really working hard to fulfill industrial goals. Coordinating to get work done by various agencies is not an easy job

Nov 2008
BEML venture close to finalising MAMC revival plan
http://www.sify.com/finance/beml-venture-close-to-finalising-mamc-revival-plan-news-default-jegv4Pihiii.html

The joint venture of BEML, Coal India and Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) has almost finalised the proposal for asset takeover and re-opening of Durgapur-based Mining and Allied Machineries Corporation (MAMC), according to V.R.S. Natarajan, Chairman of BEML.

The package would shortly be placed before the Calcutta High Court for due approval.

June 2010

Sen praises Mamata for PSU takeovers
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/sen-praises-mamata-for-psu-takeovers/633092/

Acknowledging the efforts of Union Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee’s in reviving Braithwaite and Burn Standard, CPM Politburo member and state Minister for Commerce and Industry Nirupam Sen on Saturday congratulated the Railway Minister for her “sincere attempt” in facilitating the takeover of the sick PSUs by the Railways.

In her Railways Budget, Banerjee had proposed the takeover of Burn Standard and Braithwaite, following which the case was examined by the Board for Reconstruction of Public Sector Enterprises (BPRESE). The proposal was then referred to the Union Cabinet and will now be examined by the Board for Industrial & Financial Reconstruction (BIFR).

Sen added that the complications revolving around the Mining and Allied Machinaries Corporation (MAMC) have been sorted out and the company has been taken over by three nationalised companies — Bharat Earth Movers, Coal India and DVC. Durgapur-based heavy engineering company MAMC was acquired by three profit making PSUs on Friday.


November 2010

Date set for MAMC revival

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1101112/jsp/business/story_13167939.jsp

Durgapur-based Mining & Allied Machinery Corporation (MAMC), which had closed two decades ago, may resume operations from March.

“We hope to inaugurate the first phase of the MAMC plant by March next year,” said V.R.S. Natarajan, chairman and managing director of BEML, formerly Bharat Earth Movers Ltd, on the sidelines of the International Mining and Machinery Exhibition 2010 here today.

Earlier this fiscal, MAMC was acquired by a consortium of BEML, Coal India and Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) for Rs 100 crore.

On June 11, Calcutta High Court had approved the sale of MAMC through an open bidding.

“We are now waiting for the land to be handed over to us,” Natarajan said, adding that the consortium was supposed to get 95 acres of the factory land and another 100 acres of residential complex at Durgapur where the plant is located.

The 195-acre land is under the possession of the Asansol Durgapur Development Authority (ADDA).

According to Natarajan, ADDA has agreed to assign the factory land initially to the consortium.

The consortium will initially invest Rs 200 crore as equity capital to revive MAMC.

June 2011

Mamata wants to revive MAMC

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Mamata-wants-to-revive-MAMC/Article1-707646.aspx

The revival of the closed Mining and Allied Machinery Corporation (MAMC) in Durgapur was discussed by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee with shareholder Coal India Ltd on Thursday. The discussions were confirmed by CIL Chairman N C Jha after the meeting. He said the transfer of MAMC land w ould have to take place for starting cleaning and development work.

"We expect the land transfer to take place next month", he said.

CIL holds 26% in MAMC, BEML 48% and DVC 26%. The consortium had already spent Rs 100 crore for acquiring the assets of the company closed in 2001 after a BIFR winding up order.

He said the chief minister had also asked CIL subsidiary Eastern Coalfields to take steps to check illegal mining.

The chief minister also urged CIL to indulge in CSR activity by planting trees, Jha added.

Celebration and a new controversy at Singur

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/celebrationa-new-controversy-at-singur/438684/

The enthusiasm is palpable among the unwilling farmers of Singur, the ones who didn’t want to give up their land to the Tata Motors project, who have spent the morning bathed in green, dancing in front of television cameras.

But in announcing the return of 400 acres to them, West Bengal chief minister, Mamata Banerjee may just have created the grounds for the erstwhile ‘willing’ farmers to seek the return of their land, too. The Singur Shilpo Bikash o Unnayan Committee, comprising the willing land losers of Singur, is ready to agitate if the land is returned to unwilling farmers, citing non-compliance of the agreement on which their land was acquired.

“The Singur agreement postulated that land was acquired for the ‘Tata Motors Small Car Project’. If the project is scrapped, then so is the agreement on which our land was acquired. In this case, we want our land back and are prepared for agitation,” said Uddayan Das, president of the Committee.

He cites the present Land Acquisition Act, in driving home the point that land once acquired for a specific purpose cannot be returned. And, said if it was going to be done anayway, the 11,500 erstwhile willing farmers would resort to agitation, if needed.

In 2008, Tata Motors withdrew the Nano project from Singur because of the continuing agitation led by Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress on behalf of the unwilling farmers. Around 11,500 farmers collected compensation for the 997 acres acquired by the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee-headed Left Front government, while 2,500 chose not to. Yesterday, when Banerjee announced the ordinance taking back the entire land, she gave the unwilling farmers of Singur a cause to celebrate.

“We want to return the land before the potato season starts in October. The instructions from Didi (Banerjee) are to identify land which can be made cultivable and returned. For this purpose, we will identify plots through a survey, to start soon,” said Singur panchayat pradhan and TMC sympathiser, Dhudhkumar Dhara.

WHICH LAND?

Prakash Chandra Bagh, a health department official in Singur, said the attempt would be to return land losers the same land in the same mouza where his earlier plot was taken. Land was acquired from five mouzas, in Singur-Khasherberi, Baraberi, Singherberi, Gopalnagar and Bajemelia.

However, most of the unwilling farmers’ land was used in the Tata Motors factory, which was 80 per cent complete when the project was withdrawn. “Why should my land, acquired for industry, and now part of the abandoned ancillary unit site, be passed on to a farmer for agricultural use? There is no conceivable justification and we will not stand for this,” says Das.

The majority group says that on the back of the revised compensation agreement and the other perks promised earlier to them, they still have a claim to their plots. In 2008, when the package was revised after negotiations between the then government and the TMC, compensation was increased by 50 per cent. Also, land losers were promised that each family would get a job in the factory, along with a shop in the Singur market.

“We might have collected the first cheques, but the revised compensation entitles us to more. Around 3,000 youths were promised jobs, and we were promised a 500 sq ft shop, all of which we never received. This, means non-fulfillment of the acquisition agreement, strengthening our case for return of our land,” Das explained.

The technicalities, however, are of no consequence to the unwilling farmers of Singur, who feel vindicated after nearly five years of struggle, in which many have resorted to working in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme for survival.

“I was beaten and thrown in prison when I protested. Now that the Left has been shown the power that a farmer wields, I do not care about what Ratan Tata claims. Didi will deal with him and his claims as she sees fit,” said Mrityunjaya Patra, who lost two bighas.

Only, instead of dousing fires, Banerjee’s announcement could well serve the fuel that Singur does not need.

Let us see what they do with their land after getting it back. Numerous industrial units like cold storage, factories are coming up on either side of Durgapur Expressway on so called fertile lands.

Devi Shetty lays foundation stone for one 200 bed heart hospital at Bhatpara Municipality,North 24 Parganas with central State-Health minister Dinesh Trivedi

Source:News Time

USE Group Chairman Prasoon Mukherjee meets CM for building environment friendly industry @Nayachar.Will build 10,000 MW thermal power plant(exporting high quality carbon from overseas).

Source:Star Ananda

:cheers:...Double Bonanza...:D....Bhatpara means Naihati, Kachrapara belt, right??

these politicians know how to make people fool! :bash:

West Bengal

USE has signed an MOU with the Government of West Bengal in October 2008 for setting up 10,000MW thermal power plants at various locations in the state of West Bengal.

The first utility coal based thermal power plant with ultimate capacity of 3x660 MW is coming up in the Nayachar Island to feed power to the Eco Industrial Park and to the state grid as well. The first phase is planned to consist of 2x660 MW Supercritical units. The specific site for the power plant within the island has already been identified and all preliminary exploratory work as well as the Detailed Project Report (DPR) has been completed. The EPC Contract is expected to be awarded in the second quarter of the year 2011. The first unit is planned to be commissioned by the year 2014. The necessary tie up for power off take is in place. Coal for the power plants shall be imported from Indonesia and Fuel Supply Agreement for supply of coal has been finalized.

Source (http://www.usel.biz/power.html)

even tender for EPC contract invited on 9.12.2010 (http://www.usel.biz/NIT_Sagar_09.12.10.pdf)

these politicians know how to make people fool! :bash:



Source (http://www.usel.biz/power.html)

even tender for EPC contract invited on 9.12.2010 (http://www.usel.biz/NIT_Sagar_09.12.10.pdf)

The media doesn't know the power of google. It is just counting on the fact that people's memory is usually short on such stuff.

Google is used for research by only a handful of people, even in the city there would be hardly 5% of the population doing research work through Google search engine...leave the villages and small town, so here comes the media, as of now, doing brainwash!!

The media doesn't know the power of google. It is just counting on the fact that people's memory is usually short on such stuff.

Yes these are just reviving old projects....Old wine in new bottle:lol:

:cheers:...Double Bonanza...:D....Bhatpara means Naihati, Kachrapara belt, right??

Bhatpara (Bengali: ভাটপাড়া) is a city and a municipality under Jagatdal police station of Barrackpore subdivision[2] in North 24 Parganas district in the state of West Bengal, India (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhatpara).
It is situated on the bank of Hoogly river. It is mainly known for its rich traditions in the field of Sanskrit learning. Actually the name 'Bhatpara' originates from the ancient name "Bhatta-Palli" where 'Bhatta' denotes the sect of bramhin Sanskrit pandits and 'palli' denotes locality or village. It is one of the oldest municipalities in West Bengal and it was constituted a municipality in 1899, when it was separated from the Naihati municipality. In the British era and afterwards it had become an important industrial hub on Hoogly river bank mainly for the high density of jute processing plants.

The main town is sandwiched between the Hoogly river in the east and railway track linking Sealdah and Krishnanagar in the west.

Bhatpara has a rail station named 'Kankinara' which connects it to Kolkata through Sealdah main line to Krishnanagar and Ranaghat. It is approximately one hour train journey from Kolkata to Bhatpara. It also has boat services to the other bank of Hoogly river, connecting it to Chinsura and Chandannagar. The main roadway passing through Bhatpara is called Ghose Para Road.

Mamata's Singur stand may hurt NTPC project

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/mamatas-singur-stand-may-hurt-ntpc-project/438856/

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is getting applause from supporters on her decision to take back Singur land from the Tata Group and for her stance on land acquisition.

However, this unwillingness to acquire land from those unwilling to sell might be a hindrance for a Rs 9,600-crore project for a 1,600-Mw unit by NTPC in Katwa.

Last year, the public sector undertaking had taken over the Katwa project from West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd (WBPDCL), which had acquired 387 acres of the 1,035 acres required for the project. NTPC had also signed a power purchase agreement with the then state government.

However, according to sources, the new Bengal government is not ready to give give over even half the required land.

“The government has asked NTPC to set up the plant in less than 600 acres of land and said the state is not ready to acquire any more for the project. No company can build in the given area. It is impossible,” said a top official.

According to sources, till the Trinamool Congress-led government comes out with a new land policy, the project will not move forward. If not, this might be the end of another big-ticket investment in the state.

When asked about this, a top NTPC official said, “It is a tight situation. Probably, with whatever land available, we will have to do some reengineering to make the project happen. I hope the government will give us further land, as this seems to be a pet project of the chief minister.”

However, the government seems to be adamant on not giving a further inch of land. Banerjee’s government is planning to amend the Land Acquisition Act of 1894 and introduce a ‘Singur Bill’ in the Assembly. Incidentally, Banerjee herself is handling the power portfolio in the state.

L&T bags West Bengal power utility order for meter supply

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/energy/power/lt-bags-west-bengal-power-utility-order-for-meter-supply/articleshow/8837796.cms

Technology, engineering and construction group Larsen & Toubro (L&T) today said it has bagged a Rs 110.31 crore order from the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company (WBSEDCL) to supply energy meters.

The Group's Electrical and Automation (E&A) business has been awarded the order, the company said in a statement issued here.

The Metering & Protection Systems (MPS) business unit of E&A will supply 12.6 lakh single-phase energy meters to WBSEDCL in a time frame of 12 months between June 2011 and May 2012, the release said.

MPS has a manufacturing facility in Mysore and has an installed capacity of over 4 million single-phase meters and three-phase meters.

^^:okay:

Image Makeover spree going on.....
Tatas firm up Bengal presence

Udit Prasanna Mukherji | TNN

Kolkata: The industrial scenario is looking up in Bengal.Whether Tata Motors sets up an alternative project in Singur is still a big question but the group is strengthening its presence in the state.
Tata Metaliks,a subsidiary of Tata Steel,may revive its proposed second unit in Kharagpur,which was virtually scrapped in 2009,say sources.It is also likely to invest nearly Rs 200 crore to expand capacity at the Kharagpur unit and to set up a captive power plant.
Tata Metaliks MD Harsh K Jha has not ruled out the possibility of reviving the 'stalled project' in Kharagpur.We are a growing company.But the possibility of the second unit depends on how the land will be made available, he said.The decision to revive the greenfield project may take time but the firm has decided to expand the capacity of the pig iron plant at Kharagpur from 3.5 lakh tonne to 4 lakh tonne.
It plans to set up a 15 MW captive power plant at the site that spreads over 200 acres and has scope for expansion.It may also set up a coal-to-coke conversion unit.We might set up the projects of our own or go for BOOT.We have decided to scale up the capacity of the coke conversion unit from 1.2 lakh tonne to 2 lakh tonne, Jha said,refusing to divulge the quantum of investment.We can only say that the expansion and captive power plant will be ready by December 2011, he said.
Tata Metaliks had initially planned a 5 lakh tonne billet plant at Rs 800 crore in Kharagpur.It was looking for 500 acres of contiguous land but scaled it down to 350 acres.On February 26,2005,then chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee promised to allocate land on priority but could not.This delayed the project.

Pyar me Twist
Ural eyes Singur plot

Proposes Car Plant On 500 Acres
Debashis Konar TNN

Kolkata: While chief minister Mamata Banerjee plans to return 400 acres of land in Singur to unwilling farmers,the citybased Ural Group approached the CM on Monday with a proposal to set up an auto plant at Singur on a 500-acre plot.
Ural India,an auto major with a plant at Haldia in which West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation has 11% stake,has expressed keen interest to invest in Singur to set up a small car factory.It now produces buses and heavy trucks along with military vehicles and fire engines.Ural Indias chairman J K Saraf,in his letter to the CM,wanted to utilize the plot where Tatas shed still exists now.
Ural plans to set up the plant on 500 acres of the land that will be left over after the state government returns 400 acres to the unwilling farmers.
In his letter,Saraf has made it clear that the firm wants to invest in the Singur plot.But they are also looking for the same facilities that the preceding Left Front government had promised the Tatas.Most states offer tax holidays and land at a low cost.In 2009,Ural had submitted the same proposal to then CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.Its officials had also visited the Tata plant site along with their Chinese collaborator Faw.Former commerce and industries secretary Sabyasachi Sen had been to the Faw factory in China to inspect their facilities.
But the Left Front government did not take any decision on the Singur plot after the Tatas shifted the Nano plant to Sanand in Gujarat.Mamata Banerjee,who came to power on the land issue,decided to return 400 acres to unwilling farmers in the first cabinet meeting of her government.
Ural India has a joint venture with Russian Ural.It has been trying to set up an automobile factory and had requested the Left government for land.But they only managed to get a 100 acre of plot in Haldia though the state government had earlier promised to give it 300 acres and acquired land for it.
While announcing her proposal to return land in Singur,Mamata had stated that the Tatas are welcome to set up a factory in the remaining 600 acres.She also said the state would look for other investors if they do not.Officials said that the state government is looking for immediate investors for the Singur plot.It can even set up an industrial hub on the site,adding that there are chances that the chief minister will be holding talks with Tata before the plot is finally handed over to any other industrial group.
Now,it is to be seen at what price and under what conditions the government proposes to hand over the plot to a new lease holder.Even state officials are mulling if the industrial land can be directly sold.

State MSME Sector Needs 1,200 Cr

Ficci & IL&FS Clusters joint study says state needs to attract private investment for revival,to submit reports to chief minister

ET KOLKATA
The micro,small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in West Bengal will need an immediate collective investment of.1,200 crore for survival,Ficci and IL&FS Clusters said in a joint strategy paper.According to the study,the state needs to attract private investment to develop clusters for electronics,biotech,gems and jewellery,handloom,hosiery and plastics.Ficci plans to present the findings of the study to the Mamata Banerjee government to revive the states MSMEs.West Bengal has already identified 17 clusters for food processing,animal feed,textiles,handicrafts,brass,ceramic clay,wood,zari and industrial manufacturing,among others.The existing and proposed clusters too lack serious investment,a Ficci member said.Nearly 94% of the 25 lakh-odd MSME units in the state have no access to bank finance,leaving a significant financing and investment opportunity.Only 2% is financed through institutional sources while 4% through non-institutional sources.West Bengal ranks fourth in the country in terms of volume of MSME sector with a 9.63% share,while Uttar Pradesh occupies the numero uno position with 11.93% share.Stressing that West Bengal has lost ground in terms of industrial growth,the study claims that the MSME sector can become an important vehicle for addressing these challenges of unemployment,poverty and economic growth.In respect of employment generation,the MSME sector including khadi and village industries,handicrafts and handlooms is the second largest in the state after agriculture.More than 95% of the enterprises in the state are in MSME sector,which accounts for 50% of the states total industrial production and 40% of the export.But the sector critically suffers from institutional support system,simply because of the fact that about 94% of the units across the country are not registered.The scene in West Bengal is worse,with 98% unregistered units.The government may consider setting up a project management and implementing agency in PPP mode as there is a need to improve the cluster specific business environment in the state,the paper said.Ficci and IL&FS clusters will be presenting an action agenda to the state government for focused and sustainable cluster development along with a proposed matrix for interventions and an indicative business plan envisaging financial implications over a period of five years.

hmmm.........so there's could be a fight between TM and Ural now over 500 acre.......seems interesting!!

At the time of Singur crisis I heard that URAL will set up plant in Haldia. What happened to that project?

URAL is a JV between a Russian truck manfc and a local industrial with no presence in automotive sector. It will be an assembly unit at the best. If they take this 600 acres of land, ironically, it will not be used to the full extent. The more WB govt drags on Singur, and with the 'provision of unused land to the 'unwilling' landowner', no industrial house of repute will come to bengal and invest. They will come, say nice words to get the contract from the state which will be serviced from elsewhere. Its high time the new govt takes some action to give confidence to the investors.

At the time of Singur crisis I heard that URAL will set up plant in Haldia. What happened to that project?

Its already up and running.......they are planning to set up a 2nd plant, may be @ Singur!!

Its high time the new govt takes some action to give confidence to the investors.

Today is just the 27th day since the new govt is in power, and u say its high time! :?

BTW, this website regularly updates the major steps/ actions taken by the new govt on each day.. http://aitmc.org/days_in_government.php

yes, 27 days is too short. What I meant is that the Govt should balance the Singur case with some confidence measuring notion to the investor to give them confidence.

Bhatpara (Bengali: ভাটপাড়া) is a city and a municipality under Jagatdal police station of Barrackpore subdivision[2] in North 24 Parganas district in the state of West Bengal, India (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhatpara).

My native home is Bhatpara, ask me for the details.

Bengal govt not to acquire land for industry: Panel

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/bengal-govt-not-to-acquire-land-for-industry-panel/439281/

The two-member expert committee constituted by the West Bengal government to draft a new land policy in the state, has recommended direct purchase of land by industrialists from farmers.

“We have asked the state government not to acquire land for setting up industry,” said Debabrata Bandopadhaya, a member of the expert committee, after giving the report to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

The committee has also made several recommendations to protect the interests of small and marginal farmers. According to reports, the panel has provided guidelines to the state government to create a land map.

If the government accepts the recommendations, it may hinder several projects in the pipeline, including the Rs 9,600-crore NTPC project for a 1,600-Mw unit in Katwa. The public sector undertaking needs 1,035 acres but the government had made it clear that it would not acquire land for the project. Last year, the company had acquired 387 acres.

Banerjee’s anti-land acquisition movements in Singur and Nandigram had changed the course of politics in the state and helped her party, Trinamool Congress, to wrest power, ending 34 years of Left Front rule. Soon after coming to power, Banerjee had set up the expert committee on May 30.

The committee comprised renowned lawyer Soumendranath Bose and Bandopadhaya, an architect of ‘Operation Barga’ that had facilitated distribution of millions of acres among landless farmers and tillers from 1978.

Looks like not that much interest and from nationwide industrialist it has been downgraded to Bengal industrialists?

They should organize something grand like Big Bang Bengal on lines of Vibrant Gujarat.

Mamata meeting top Bengal industrialists this weekend

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/mamata-meeting-top-bengal-industrialists-this-weekend/804143/3

To send the right signals to the industry post-Singur Bill, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has called a meeting with top industrialists this weekend.

The state government-initiated Industrial Conclave is likely to see Bengal Inc attending in large numbers. Industry department officials said though state finance and industry departments together contacted quite a number of industrialists from outside West Bengal for the meeting, there has been no confirmation as yet.

Sources said the official invitation had been extended from state finance minister Amit Mitra and industry minister Partha Chatterjee. But Chatterjee personally called up ADAG chairman Anil Ambani, JSW vice-chairman and managing director Sajjan Jindal and Videocon Industries chairman Venugopal Dhoot.

While Anil Ambani said he would meet Mamata Banerjee sometime later, Jindal and Dhoot have not committed any meeting as yet.

Ambani had earlier met the then chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee for setting up the Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City in the state but that didn't fructify. Jindal has already committed a R35,000-crore investment in the state to set up a 10 million tonne steel plant, while Dhoot will invest R15,000 crore to set up a 3 mt steel plant and 1,200 Mw power plant.

But both the projects are locked in political and land disputes, respectively.

The new government is eager to push through proposed investments, for which the industry department is in touch with the offices of Jindal and Dhoot, industry department sources said.

The industry conclave is likely to be attended by CESC vice-chairman Sanjiv Goenka, Bengal Ambuja chairman Harsh Neotia, Titagarh Wagon Ltd chairman JP Chowdhury, Emami chairman RS Agarwal, Jai Balaji chairman and managing director Aditya Jajodia, Bengal Unitech chairman Prasoon Mukherjee HPL managing director Partha Bhattacharyya, Patton International managing director Sanjay Budhia, Shyam Steel chairman SS Beriwala and others.

Ruia Group chairman Pawan Ruia's office is not sure whether he will be able to attend since he is out of the country. Presidents and secretaries of all the Kolkata-based chambers have been invited to the conclave, officials said.

^^ Don't worry, "Amer Achar wala" industry will continue to grow. Because it doesn't require land and a 1BHK "barir chat"(roof) is enough for that..:lol:

Looks like not that much interest and from nationwide industrialist it has been downgraded to Bengal industrialists?

They should organize something grand like Big Bang Bengal on lines of Vibrant Gujarat.

Mamata meeting top Bengal industrialists this weekend

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/mamata-meeting-top-bengal-industrialists-this-weekend/804143/3

^^It is unclear how the industry will shape up in the future. The govt is saying - hey you guys are welcome, come have tea with us , but we cannot help you with your most important asset i.e acquisition of land:nuts:

^^It is unclear how the industry will shape up in the future. The govt is saying - hey you guys are welcome, come have tea with us , but we cannot help you with your most important asset i.e acquisition of land:nuts:

If other states help industrialists in acquiring land and West Bengal doesn't then it will not be good for the state.

However this could be only for voter and intellectual consumption. The state and the ruling party can always help the industrialists through the backdoor I guess and the intellectuals can always look the other way. One way would be to create "land banks" before inviting industrialists.

I hope Mr Debabrata Bandyopadhyay realizes that in a "market economy" businesses and industrialists will get lured to the states and countries that offer them the best deal.


West Bengal government may not assist promoters to acquire land

http://www.livemint.com/2011/06/16021355/WestBengalgovernmentmaynot.html?atype=tp

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee may soon announce a new land use policy which says the government will not acquire land for industrial projects, leaving it to project promoters to do so.

“They (companies) operate in a market economy, so must deal with market forces. They shouldn’t ask the (state) government to acquire land for them,” said Debabrata Bandyopadhyay, a former official of the state’s land and land reforms department, who led a two-member panel to draft the proposed policy.

“The decision not to help companies acquire land in any manner is a setback,” said the managing director of a steel maker looking to set up a large plant in West Bengal, who requested anonymity. “The problem with West Bengal is (that) there are too many owners and it is beyond the means of any company to deal with them directly.”

The first casualty of the new land use policy could be power utility NTPC Ltd’s proposed plant in Burdwan district.

The government will also not allow farmlands where more than one crop is cultivated in a year to be put to industrial use.

Such tracts of land would be identified in each district and reserved for agriculture, Bandyopadhyay said.

However, the state government would continue to acquire land to build infrastructure, but while doing so, it should treat “land not only as a property, but also as a source of livelihood”, Bandyopadhyay said.

Faced with controversy, the state’s previous Left Front administration, too, had encouraged a large number of companies to acquire land on their own, but hardly any managed to do so.

The Left Front government used to typically ask companies to buy at least 70% of the land on their own; if they could do so, the state government acquired the balance 30%. The experiment failed.

Some companies such as Bhushan Steel Ltd and Tata Metaliks Ltd had “horrible experiences”, according to an official of the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC), which till now acted as a facilitator for industrial projects and acquired land for them. He refused to be named.

“Bhushan Steel and Tata Metaliks began buying land, but couldn’t secure a contiguous plot,” he said, adding that Bhushan Steel was cheated by “unscrupulous brokers”, and had to abandon its project. “It wasn’t a big tract of land that it was looking to buy—only about 120 acres.”

“It is impossible for companies to directly deal with the owners and they have to go through brokers to buy land,” said the WBIDC official. “The question is whether the state government or private individuals would act as the intermediary. We have seen brokers take companies for a ride.”

Going by the experience of companies buying land on their own in West Bengal, the proposed policy could mean curtains for big-ticket investments in the state.

Other key recommendations in the new proposed policy include a five-year programme to provide land to 550,000 homeless people to build homes and a complete ban on use of genetically modified (GM) seeds in the state.

According to Bandyopadhyay, the West Bengal government could take over five years to acquire and distribute 10 cents, or 4,356 square feet of land, to each of the 550,000 homeless people in the state at a cost of Rs.1,500 crore.

This programme should be dovetailed with the Centre’s housing schemes such as Indira Awaas Yojana, he added.

He also said the state government should ban the use of GM seeds in the interest of “food security” because such seeds damage long-term productivity of agricultural land.

Aahamori kichu na. They are colorful though. I heard Bangladeshi mango is excellent. Not sure if they export it or not. Probably new-yorkers get those(?).

Mangoes from my neighbour's tree. This is the second batch. Delicious.

http://img577.imageshack.us/img577/5694/mangoesdelicious.jpg (http://img577.imageshack.us/i/mangoesdelicious.jpg/)

yes, 27 days is too short. What I meant is that the Govt should balance the Singur case with some confidence measuring notion to the investor to give them confidence.

ha ha ha... you see it is:

T W E N T Y S E V E N D A Y S, or
S I X H U N D R E D A N D F O R T Y E I G H T H O U R S

compared to:
only 3 decades

27 and 648: much bigger numbers than 3.

@Suncity, these must be Golabkhas variety of mango. I still remember them, they are really sweet.

@Suncity, these must be Golabkhas variety of mango. I still remember them, they are really sweet.

My neighbours don't eat mangoes and they have no clue. One of my friends told me it is Glenn variety. The mangoes look small in the photo. But they are actually pretty good sized.

^^It is unclear how the industry will shape up in the future. The govt is saying - hey you guys are welcome, come have tea with us , but we cannot help you with your most important asset i.e acquisition of land:nuts:
Singur could become Mamata's achilis hill also five years down the road.Bengal needs industry, a lot and fast. Cheap talk will not work after sometime.

My neighbours don't eat mangoes and they have no clue. One of my friends told me it is Glenn variety.

Who doesnt eat mango!!

Bill to return Singur land draws flak from Tatas

The legislation for returning land at Singur to farmers drew criticism from industrialists and a reminder from the Tatas about the circumstances that forced them to abandon a factory that was meant to build the Nano, the world's cheapest car. The Bill, which was passed by the West Bengal Assembly on Tuesday , said the land was taken back by the state because the Tatas had abandoned the Nano project.

Read on (http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/bill-to-return-singur-land-draws-flak-from-tatas/articleshow/8870649.cms)

Holy Cow. Are those sweet? They look wonderful. :drool:

So, last week saw some Lichi trees with big big lichis in my suburb. They never caught in my eye before..

Mangoes from my neighbour's tree. This is the second batch. Delicious.

http://img577.imageshack.us/img577/5694/mangoesdelicious.jpg (http://img577.imageshack.us/i/mangoesdelicious.jpg/)

Who doesnt eat mango!!

Americans :lol:

Holy Cow. Are those sweet? They look wonderful. :drool:

Just the right amount of sweetness.

Singur could become Mamata's achilis hill also five years down the road.Bengal needs industry, a lot and fast. Cheap talk will not work after sometime.
Govt will concentrate upon industry which does not require lots of land like garment, toy, jwellery. Forget big ticket investment, if the industry doesn't get contiguous large tract of land. Also think, if the land brokers could dupe large corporations how much vulnerable the poor landwoners will be

Singur could become Mamata's achilis hill also five years down the road.Bengal needs industry, a lot and fast. Cheap talk will not work after sometime.

^^I agree. Time is not far when there is a showdown with the center on this. Currently the center is too busy trying to appease fasting godmen and corruption cases that reforms such as land bills, FDI in retail etc is put on the back burner. I only hope someone like Pranab Mukherjee helps the state govt see sense in govt acquisition of land to a particular limit.

^^ Don't worry, "Amer Achar wala" industry will continue to grow. Because it doesn't require land and a 1BHK "barir chat"(roof) is enough for that..:lol:

^^:lol: But I am sure people of the state are becoming cleverer. When the stats do not improve over time even MB will realize her mistake.

Abide by the rules of the government? This coming from a politician? And what are the Tatas going to do if "rules" change with government change?


:lol:

If Tatas don't invest in West Bengal, there are others: Congress

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/if-tatas-dont-invest-in-west-bengal-there-are-others-congress/articleshow/8877706.cms

The Tatas were welcome to invest in West Bengal , but if they did not there were others who would, Congress, the alliance partner of the Mamata Banerjee government, said today.

"If the Tatas want to invest they are welcome, but if they don't that doesn't mean that there is none other to invest in the state," WBPCC President Pradip Bhattacharya told reporters here.

"West Bengal had the maximum industrialisation during the term of Bidhan Chandra Roy, but there was no Tata at that time," Bhattacharya said.

The Tatas will have to understand the ground reality and if they want to set up a factory in the 600-acre at Singur then there is no problem. They are welcome but they will have to abide by government rules, he said.

^^:lol: But I am sure people of the state are becoming cleverer. When the stats do not improve over time even MB will realize her mistake.

Stats improvement can be easily done. Just print them any nice numbers in the newspaper. Who is going to double check? I was checking the agricultural growth rate of a major state which is popular with journalists. If you google the agricultural growth rate which has been held up as an example, you will find fluctuating rates and you never know which is correct. Note here that I am only referring to newspaper articles.

Stats improvement can be easily done. Just print them any nice numbers in the newspaper. Who is going to double check? I was checking the agricultural growth rate of a major state which is popular with journalists. If you google the agricultural growth rate which has been held up as an example, you will find fluctuating rates and you never know which is correct. Note here that I am only referring to newspaper articles.

^^Well, at some point we have to trust someone ..even our dumb reporters if positive growth stats are stated. I personally do not trust the GDP numbers published by the center these days. I know most of the stuff are erratic but how else do we gauge how a state / country is progressing.

Abide by the rules of the government? This coming from a politician? And what are the Tatas going to do if "rules" change with government change?


:lol:

If Tatas don't invest in West Bengal, there are others: Congress

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/if-tatas-dont-invest-in-west-bengal-there-are-others-congress/articleshow/8877706.cms

^^I think Hitler would be proud to see the new powers of states and statesmen in India who can go ahead and dictate everything from where to buy land or which brand of toilet paper to use. He should probably be re-born in Bengal..will have a great career

Let's see what the industrial conclave brings in. Maybe there will be concrete proposals for lakhs of crores of rupees in various existing industrial estates in the state.

Plus the land policy is just a proposal. It is not yet officially adopted.

^^Hope that the Conclave would be big enuf for opening a separate thread, bt cant see any promotions for this Conclave!!

Saturday ko h na??

^^Hope that the Conclave would be big enuf for opening a separate thread, bt cant see any promotions for this Conclave!!

Saturday ko h na??

There is some news about the conclave in the various newspapers. Apparently industrialists are dying to get invited and are lobbying for invitations. It is the place to be seen as per news reports. If you are not there then you are worthless as an industrialist.

Another project - this time by Apeejay and Bharti Shipyard going down the drain?

Ship unit deadline miss in land row

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110617/jsp/bengal/story_14123461.jsp

The deadline for fixing the price of the land identified for the proposed Geonkhali ship-building yard in East Midnapore lapsed today.

According to rules, the land price — needed to fix compensation packages — has to be announced within two years of the issuance of notification for survey of the plot. But the survey for the Geonkhali ship-building and repairing yard could not be done because of sustained anti-land acquisition protests by the Trinamul Congress.

Around 500 acres had been identified for the project, to be developed by the Apeejay group and Bharati Shipyard at an estimated investment of Rs 2,000 crore.

An Apeejay official said: “We are disappointed. We waited so long. We had hoped that with the change in government, the impasse over land acquisition would be sorted out.”

He said the project had become “uncertain” because the committee on land-use policy recommended in its report submitted yesterday that the government should have no role to play in land acquisition for private industry other than setting up a minimum price regulator.

Saurav Das Patnaik, the director of Apeejay group, said the project would be reviewed as “nearly three years have been wasted and now the whole process would have to be started again”.

The people unwilling to part with their land had formed a Bhumi Uchchhed Pratirodh Committee and started the agitation under its banner. The landowners, all farmers, had demanded that the government stay out of the compensation-negotiation process.

^^ "Bhumi Uchchhed Pratirodh Committee" became "Shilpo Uchchhed Committee" :lol:

^^ "Bhumi Uchchhed Pratirodh Committee" became "Shilpo Uchchhed Committee" :lol:


In the new policy Land Dalals (Sharks?) will have a very important role to play.

Rumours are that Jomi Rokkha Committees are going to become Jomi Dalal Committees. With the government's silent backing they will acquire land at low prices and sell it high prices. The farmers will probably not benefit as they cannot do anything against the powerful committees. The new proposal is basically making the Vedic Village type scams legal.

Also the ABP is reporting that the industrialists of the state are looking forward to the conclave to see if mananiya mahanetri will give some guidance on this issue.

Especially puzzled are industries for which WBIDC was acquiring land. Now if WBIDC says go and buy your own land from dalals, then the cost will increase and so will the time. This will probably make many industries rethink their plans. Those who have already invested money are probably thinking where the hell have we ended up in.


And anyway there will always be Amer Achar Industry.

West Bengal aiming for 100% household electrification by 2013

ABP reports that as per 2011 census West Bengal has 10.2 million rural households. Of this 6.6 million have electricity connection. 1.6 million BPL folks will get connections under Rajiv Gandhi Scheme.

http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/8827/bengalelectricabp.jpg (http://img825.imageshack.us/i/bengalelectricabp.jpg/)

Change historic, we await your FDI wish list: Tokyo to Kolkata
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/change-historic-we-await-your-fdi-wish-list-tokyo-to-kolkata/804880/2

In what could be the first substantive breakthrough in attracting FDI for the Mamata Banerjee government, the Japanese government has urged West Bengal to send an “investment promotion mission” of government and industry leaders to Tokyo with a list of projects for FDI.

In fact, the change of political guard in the state after 34 years was boldly underlined by Japanese Ambassador Akitaka Saiki who visited the state early this month and met Banerjee and Finance Minister Amit Mitra. Speaking at a subsequent dinner, he said: “Japan as a country has welcomed the historic change in Bengal and the number of Japanese businesses and level of investments should be increasing rapidly in West Bengal. The Japanese business community has found in the historic verdict in West Bengal a positive signal of increased investment opportunities.”

As for government-to-government assistance, he said: “We are ready. We are waiting for the proposals to come for investments.”

Since then, a top official confirmed, the state government has been working overtime to complete project proposals for Japanese investment in a sweeping range of areas: roads and infrastructure, ports, food processing, setting up of cold chains, automobiles and automotive components, logistic hubs and downstream projects in the chemical and petrochemical sector.

“This is apart form the existing financial assistance in the extension of East-West Metro railway corridor now under progress. We are also looking into the Mumbai-Delhi corridor project being executed by the Japanese,” said the senior state official.

As far as current FDI in West Bengal is concerned, Japan’s MCC PTA India Corp, the Haldia-based arm of Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation of Japan, has invested over Rs 4000 crore.

The company, in which the Bengal government owns a minority stake of 5 per cent, has further expansion plans, said D P Patra, Vice President, in tune with “market requirements.”

West Bengal aiming for 100% household electrification by 2013

ABP reports that as per 2011 census West Bengal has 10.2 million rural households. Of this 6.6 million have electricity connection. 1.6 million BPL folks will get connections under Rajiv Gandhi Scheme.

http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/8827/bengalelectricabp.jpg (http://img825.imageshack.us/i/bengalelectricabp.jpg/)

Now that's a great news, but how would they do electrification in Sundarbans??

There is some news about the conclave in the various newspapers. Apparently industrialists are dying to get invited and are lobbying for invitations. It is the place to be seen as per news reports. If you are not there then you are worthless as an industrialist.

Ki boka boka comment by a news agency!!....bt seriously there has been no AV promotions!!

And where will it take place??...i hope they do it indoors, coz its raining like cats and dogs......Kolkata is depressed with a depression!!

And where will it take place??...i hope they do it indoors, coz its raining like cats and dogs......Kolkata is depressed with a depression!!

It will take place at Belvedere Park Club, Alipore. AFAIK, the very big industrialists would prefer an one-on-one with the government, and may not be present tomorrow.

Bankura co-op offers 11000 acres for industry

Barely 24 hours after a two-member committee on land policy submitted its recommendations to her, Mamata Banerjee had a visitor who brought some good news for her government. Mamata wants to usher in investment without invoking forcible land acquisition and the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.
The day after the CM had experts carve out a land policy based on this principle, Arup Chakraborty, Trinamool Congress’ Bankura district working president, met her and offered her a ready, albeit private, land bank. They have around 11,000 acres which they want to sell to industrialists.
Chakraborty told the chief minister that some land-owners had formed a cooperative, M S B Pragatisheel Bhumi Sangraha Proprietorship Private Limited and assembled plots in Bankura, Burdwan and Purulia. He said, “Our cooperative has around 11,000 acres at disposal.” The land in prime locations of Saltola, Borjora, Beniatore, Durgapur, Rajbandh and other areas in Bankura, Purulia and Burdwan are barren in nature and had been bought from poor farmers.
Chakraborty told the chief minister, “We have ready land in all these areas. Please tell the industrialists to come to us instead of looking elsewhere.” Mamata welcomed the idea especially since the two-member committee led by former land and land reforms commissioner Debabrata Bandyopadhyay had recommended that the government should have a comprehensive land map marking off multi-crop land and tribal land as noindustrial zones. The committee had sampled barren stretches from the land map created by the erstwhile Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government to show how these plots could be tapped by potential investors. TNN

It will take place at Belvedere Park Club, Alipore. AFAIK, the very big industrialists would prefer an one-on-one with the government, and may not be present tomorrow.

it wud have been better if they could have organized in a larger scale, something on the lines of Bangalore or Gujarat...!!

Althought it has an anti-industry air around it, the new land policy is a good decision, given the circumstances. If the govt gets into land acq, the opposition will tear the state apart. Things will turn positive natually with time, that's my guess and then people will not be against giving their land and all the risks of running into land sharks trap etc will be mitigated. People have to come out of fantasy of getting everything done overnight (like earlier announcements by the govt) and accept the reality and get something done rather than nothing at all.

In the new policy Land Dalals (Sharks?) will have a very important role to play.

Rumours are that Jomi Rokkha Committees are going to become Jomi Dalal Committees. With the government's silent backing they will acquire land at low prices and sell it high prices. The farmers will probably not benefit as they cannot do anything against the powerful committees. The new proposal is basically making the Vedic Village type scams legal.

Also the ABP is reporting that the industrialists of the state are looking forward to the conclave to see if mananiya mahanetri will give some guidance on this issue.

Especially puzzled are industries for which WBIDC was acquiring land. Now if WBIDC says go and buy your own land from dalals, then the cost will increase and so will the time. This will probably make many industries rethink their plans. Those who have already invested money are probably thinking where the hell have we ended up in.


And anyway there will always be Amer Achar Industry.

In the days when we want to privatise many things its may not be a bad policy that Govt will not interfere with land acqusition for private industry. Even if the price industry pays for the land goes up it will be compensated by the 'early' acquisition. The looser will be the hapless landowners who will sell cheap and the profit will be pocketed by the land brokers/mafia. Also on the loosing will be the projects which need huge tract of land because of fragmented nature of land ownership in Bengal.

shudhu ekta building...and its called IT PArk
!!!!!!!!!

neways kon kon company operate korche ei building ta tey ?
http://www.durgapurcity.co.in/

New Durgapur IT park
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/5104/itparkdurgapur.jpg

alphonso eto famous keno??
amader himsagar to onek better lage alphonso r theke...langra tao besh lage...ekhane maharahstra te boroi odbhut aam paoa jae...amar ahamori kichui lagena...not to sweet nor juicy..nor langra-ish....atleast pune r aam amar bhalolageni khub ekta

mane no Indian Mangoes???....summer vacs so late....out here its almost time for reopening!!

langra tao besh lage...ekhane maharahstra te boroi odbhut aam paoa jae...amar ahamori kichui lagena...not to sweet nor juicy..nor langra-ish....

Pune te jani na, kintu Mumbai te bhalo langra paoa jaye..

Althought it has an anti-industry air around it, the new land policy is a good decision, given the circumstances. If the govt gets into land acq, the opposition will tear the state apart. Things will turn positive natually with time, that's my guess and then people will not be against giving their land and all the risks of running into land sharks trap etc will be mitigated. People have to come out of fantasy of getting everything done overnight (like earlier announcements by the govt) and accept the reality and get something done rather than nothing at all.

The land acquisition policy that has been recently proposed has its advantages and disadvantages, like the present one in force! Nevertheless, land is required for industry to grow.. and role of the government can not be completely neglected. While the business houses would be in a better position to buy land directly (due to less aggitations and lesser legal issues), it would also want to feel safe that they do not lose possession on the land. I assume that the government will take a significant role in helping the business houses close the deals. Yet to see what comes out finally, but I personally believe that if the new government has a comprehensive plan for the Kolkata Metropolitan Area, it would be in a good position to identify (a) good land map, and (b) available and proposed infrastructure in the area.

SHURU SHURU TE AMAR PUNE KHUB BHALO LAGTO ...BUT AFTER SEEING BOMBAY ...DIN DIN ODBHUT LAGCHE ..ICHHEI KORE NA EKHANE THAKTE...KOLKATA FIREY JETE ICHHE KORE...DHUR BAAL ER PUNE Pune te jani na, kintu Mumbai te bhalo langra paoa jaye..

Pune te jani na, kintu Mumbai te bhalo langra paoa jaye..

Langra bazar e uthe gache???....ekhane ekhn o amar chokhe porlo na!!!

SHURU SHURU TE AMAR PUNE KHUB BHALO LAGTO ...BUT AFTER SEEING BOMBAY ...DIN DIN ODBHUT LAGCHE ..ICHHEI KORE NA EKHANE THAKTE...KOLKATA FIREY JETE ICHHE KORE...DHUR BAAL ER PUNE

Hi.. I understand that people may / may not like a few cities and that is absolutely fine. But please do not post comments that may hurt the sentiment of many! People are deeply connected to their soil, atleast a few people (just like me) are deeply connected to their cities, and they might feel hurt / offended. For example, it pains when I hear something bad about Kolkata. Kolkata is probably my first love and I am deeply connected to it! Someone might have similar feelings about Pune. So lets maintain the decorum of the forum. Hope u diidn't mind me advising.. Cheers!

Langra bazar e uthe gache???....ekhane ekhn o amar chokhe porlo na!!!

Hyaan Mumbai te bhalo langra paoa jache..

HMM JANI KI BOLCHO...BUT KONO PUNEITE BUJHBE NA KI BOLLAM BCOZ AMI MARATHI TE BOLI NI...
:)
NEWAYS ITS NOT DAT I DONT LIKE THE PUNE, ITS JUST THAT I'VE GROWN FED UP OF IT... KICHUI PAOA JAENA...SHOB KICHUR E DAAM BESHI ...DHUR....EVEN BOMBAY IS CHEAPER AS FAR AS FOOD & TRANSPORT IS CONCERNED

lets maintain the decorum of the forum

Hi.. I understand that people may / may not like a few cities and that is absolutely fine. But please do not post comments that may hurt the sentiment of many! People are deeply connected to their soil, atleast a few people (just like me) are deeply connected to their cities, and they might feel hurt / offended. For example, it pains when I hear something bad about Kolkata. Kolkata is probably my first love and I am deeply connected to it! Someone might have similar feelings about Pune. So lets maintain the decorum of the forum. Hope u diidn't mind me advising.. Cheers!

As a Puneite I am interested to know what what was said about Pune. Can you translate from Bengali for my benefit?

@ Soumik: Prochur bangali thake okhane!!!....mstly grads korte, followed by job!!...ami onek k jani jara okhane settled hoye geche!!.....r emnio xcpt south , baki sob jaygai language khub easily sekha jai!!

Same goes for me...before coming to Kol, i hardly knew bengali, except few colloquial terms, but during the last 7 years at least now m able to speak and read bengali, (only those in big font sizes)!

Hyaan Mumbai te bhalo langra paoa jache..

hope khub jaldi taste korte parbo!!

der is a type of mango available in west bengal named "langra"
i was asking other forumers if they had any knowledge wer it would be availble in pune... but later i found out dat its available in mumbai but dont know bout if its availble in pune.. i said that pune trasportation sucks ...and certain things are costly here , even costleir than bombay
As a Puneite I am interested to know what what was said about Pune. Can you translate from Bengali for my benefit?

studmaster ekta kaaj koro na...amar jonye 1 kg langra kiney parcel kore dao na amar address ...ami trasfer kore debo money
(if needed )
:bash:

hope khub jaldi taste korte parbo!!

HMM JANI KI BOLCHO...BUT KONO PUNEITE BUJHBE NA KI BOLLAM BCOZ AMI MARATHI TE BOLI NI...

Jerom Kolkatan mane sudhu Bangali noy, serom Puneite maneo sudhu Marathi noy! India is slowly becoming cosmopolitan in nature and a Bong Puneite might get hurt hearing something bad about the city where he has grown up / lives!

NEWAYS ITS NOT DAT I DONT LIKE THE PUNE, ITS JUST THAT I'VE GROWN FED UP OF IT... KICHUI PAOA JAENA...SHOB KICHUR E DAAM BESHI ...DHUR....EVEN BOMBAY IS CHEAPER AS FAR AS FOOD & TRANSPORT IS CONCERNED

Regarding "kichui paoa jayena" issue (which I have heard many people say in Mumbai too), I have the following opinion:

Jodi sab kichui saman bhabe sab jayega te paoa jeto, tahole uniqueness thakto kothaye sohor gulor modhey!!! Ranaghat er pantua Kolkata tei paoa jayena (a difference of less than 100 kms), r tumi bolcho Pune te Kolkatar sab jinish paoa jaoa uchit (miles apart)! Mante parlam na boss..

Hyaan cosmopolitan cultutre e amra onek kichui pacchi bibhinno sohor e. Kintu certain cities have certain flavours n touches that r unique!

Regarding the "sab kichur dam besi" issue (which I have heard many people say in Mumbai too), I have the following opinion:

If the expenditure is more, the average income in the city is more too! Otherwise, how could people afford to spend more?

And trust me, one thing bad with Kolkata is that it is still "cheap"! "Shoshta sohor" concept has killed Kolkata for ages! Shoshta te khabar paoa jaye bolei hoyto Kolkata te jara khaddo bostu bikri korche (either raw or cooked), tader income kom. Tader khorchao kom. Bhalo kotha. Kintu income barle to se ektu besi khorcha korte pare. In that case money rolling / flow of funds increase korbe sohor e. When money flow will increase, business houses will try to diversify and capture the expenses made by the middle class. The better the business, the more the taxes paid to the government. The better the business, the more the employment. In return the middle class sector will grow in Kolkata. More Kolkatans will have better paying jobs and cheap labour concept will cease to exist. Slowly Kolkata will turn out to be a healthy city with less poverty. [This should not be mis-read or misunderstood. I am not speaking against the poor. I am speaking against poverty!]

Being able to spend has two good effects on human minds:
1) A person feels that he is capable to spending such amount! It boosts self belief.
2) The person believes he can earn even more!

i liked ur point of view very much ...and the concept of spending-earning is very true but Regarding "sab kichur dam besi" issue :

i didnt find things too costly in bombay other than real estate prices...but public transport in pune is too high... autowalla's are chor... if u compare bombay with pune, bombay is better than pune as far as money flow is concerned..
but in pune Transportation is a real pain in the ass.. and bombay has more choices of food yet cheaper than pune...

Kolkata is a place where people from all socioeconomic levels can co exist , but for a country to progress we need to minimize poverty. Every one dreams of better livelyhood & lifestyle, so wat u said bout upgradation of lifestyle is absolutely correct..

Bombay isnt too expensive either apart from flat rents and ol.

Jerom Kolkatan mane sudhu Bangali noy, serom Puneite maneo sudhu Marathi noy! India is slowly becoming cosmopolitan in nature and a Bong Puneite might get hurt hearing something bad about the city where he has grown up / lives!



Regarding "kichui paoa jayena" issue (which I have heard many people say in Mumbai too), I have the following opinion:

Jodi sab kichui saman bhabe sab jayega te paoa jeto, tahole uniqueness thakto kothaye sohor gulor modhey!!! Ranaghat er pantua Kolkata tei paoa jayena (a difference of less than 100 kms), r tumi bolcho Pune te Kolkatar sab jinish paoa jaoa uchit (miles apart)! Mante parlam na boss..

Hyaan cosmopolitan cultutre e amra onek kichui pacchi bibhinno sohor e. Kintu certain cities have certain flavours n touches that r unique!

Regarding the "sab kichur dam besi" issue (which I have heard many people say in Mumbai too), I have the following opinion:

If the expenditure is more, the average income in the city is more too! Otherwise, how could people afford to spend more?

And trust me, one thing bad with Kolkata is that it is still "cheap"! "Shoshta sohor" concept has killed Kolkata for ages! Shoshta te khabar paoa jaye bolei hoyto Kolkata te jara khaddo bostu bikri korche (either raw or cooked), tader income kom. Tader khorchao kom. Bhalo kotha. Kintu income barle to se ektu besi khorcha korte pare. In that case money rolling / flow of funds increase korbe sohor e. When money flow will increase, business houses will try to diversify and capture the expenses made by the middle class. The better the business, the more the taxes paid to the government. The better the business, the more the employment. In return the middle class sector will grow in Kolkata. More Kolkatans will have better paying jobs and cheap labour concept will cease to exist. Slowly Kolkata will turn out to be a healthy city with less poverty. [This should not be mis-read or misunderstood. I am not speaking against the poor. I am speaking against poverty!]

Being able to spend has two good effects on human minds:
1) A person feels that he is capable to spending such amount! It boosts self belief.
2) The person believes he can earn even more!

Pune autodrivers are a pain? Compared to which auto drivers where? Pune is the ONLY city I've seen in India where ALL auto drivers go by the meter all the time, even after 12 pm. If you've seen Chennai/Bangalore/Delhi/Hyderabad/Ahmedabad autos, Pune autos are saints in comparison. I used to be critical of them myself but after having lived and living in other cities (even within MH) I have to say this is the only city I've seen where autos go by the meter card scruplously.

In addition, if you can't speak Hindi well like me they don't harass or take advatange of you.

studmaster ekta kaaj koro na...amar jonye 1 kg langra kiney parcel kore dao na amar address ...ami trasfer kore debo money
(if needed )
:bash:

agey ami to deedar kori........fir hum pune vejne ki baat soch sakte h!!

Why are we discussing Pune here?

Good news...After Japan the USA comes calling..



Robert Blake calls on Mamata

http://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/robert-blake-calls-on-mamata_713406.html

US Assistant Secretary of State (Bureau of South and central Asian affairs) Robert O Blake on Friday called on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who urged him to send a business delegation to the state.

"The Chief Minister has requested me to send a business delegation here. I will speak with the US chamber of commerce and the CII and finalise the whole thing," Blake told reporters after meeting Banerjee.

On US investment in the state, he said, "There are certain areas like mining, engineering, energy, tourism and agriculture where there is tremendous possibility of US investment."

"The Investors will into every aspects including law and order before investing in the state," Blake said adding "There has been a considerable progress in this (law and order) regard."

Praising Banerjee, Blake said, "It is nice to meet her, She is taking unique steps".

"I personally know finance minister Amit Mitra, some other members in the team and the new chief minister. They are very able people and I think they are committed to provide more enabling climate for foreign trade and investment. But they have to compete with not only other cities in India but the entire world," Blake added.

When asked whether he would invite Banerjee to the US, Blake said, "She is always welcome but she is very busy".

^^:cheers:

is this "mango update thread"? :lol:

sun can you clean up?

is this "mango update thread"? :lol:

sun can you clean up?

It's all about "aam" admi.

:lol:

Bongs love food.

^^ Mango should stay. It is part of our "Industrial culture"..:laugh:

^^ Mango should stay. It is part of our "Industrial culture"..:laugh:

I think WB is also amongst the top states in Ghuntey (Cow dung cake) industry. If GAIL trys to disrupt this industry all intellectuals will protest.

:lol:

I think WB is also amongst the top states in Ghuntey (Cow dung cake) industry. If GAIL trys to disrupt this industry all intellectuals will protest.

:lol:

ha ha true :lol:.. I still remember we had 5 cows in my village home and we had a "Gobor gas" system by which my mom used to cook. I remember that time local BDO office govt officials helped us making that system(technologically). 2001 there was a massive flood in that region, our ground floor was completely under water and it destroyed everything. I don't think they again tried that kind of initiative after that. Btw, we still have 3 cows in my home..

ha ha true :lol:.. I still remember we had 5 cows in my village home and we had a "Gobor gas" system by which my mom used to cook. I remember that time local BDO office govt officials helped us making that system(technologically). 2001 there was a massive flood in that region, our ground floor was completely under water and it destroyed everything. I don't think they again tried that kind of initiative after that. Btw, we still have 3 cows in my home..

I was also an expert at Ghuntey counting lest the Ghuntey wala was cheating. So now what do you guys use for cooking?

I was also an expert at Ghuntey counting lest the Ghuntey wala was cheating. So now what do you guys use for cooking?

We had cooking gas(I think since 1997). Before that we used to use Ghutey/coal. We still have traditional “coal/ghutey chulo” because my mom loves to cook on them sometimes. That Gobor Gas was a good optional. Also, we had a garden lamp that was powered by Gobor gas..

US diplomat on Bengal...

http://www.indiablooms.com/BusinessDetailsPage/businessDetails170611f.php

Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert O Blake Jr on Friday stressed on the importance of the role of East India, especially West Bengal in maintaining a strongly flourishing US-India partnership.

He said, “America’s future will rest on the power of our knowledge, ideas, and economy. In this context, we see no better partner than India, and in India, West Bengal’s legacy as an academic and cultural fulcrum makes this state a pivotal part of our partnership."

Speaking at a CII function here, Blake said Kolkata and West Bengal have a legacy of producing brilliant minds, a trend he hopes will continue into the future.

Blake remarked, “There are of course many well-known Calcuttans who’ve made an indelible mark on humanity, from the great Nobel Prize-winning economist and ethicist Amartya Sen, to the Oscar-winning Satyajit Ray, to the prize-winning writer Amitav Ghosh, and of course the humanitarian and Nobel laureate Mother Teresa.”

He also stated that he felt deeply moved by Kolkata, “a city on the move”, which is yet to realise a monumental potential for growth and prosperity.

He, however, expressed his confidence in the business environment by saying, “The almost-completed, gleaming new airport, the many flyovers, and other impressive infrastructure projects here, reaffirms for me that Kolkata remains a global hub.”

“Increasingly, these solutions will be applicable not just to India or the U.S., but to the world at large. Kolkata’s historical position as a gateway of Asia will help disseminate those breakthroughs to Bangladesh and Southeast Asia,” he said.

Blake informed the audience about “some of the ways that U.S.-India economic and business ties have been fostered, in a context unique to West Bengal. “

He referred to the highly successful venture of “PepsiCo's Frito-Lay food processing plant just outside of Kolkata” which expanded “to become the company’s largest food processing facility in Asia.”

He also talked about the mutually beneficial collaboration of Coal India, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation and other Indian companies that have become the emblem of positive symbiotic partnerships between Eastern India and the US.

On being queried about accelerated future US investment as well as increased involvement of US universities with the state, Blake stated that the responsibility lies with the state government to create a feasible environment as Kolkata is competing with not only India but the rest of the world. He encouraged active participation to draw support from the US.

He also encouraged budding entrepreneurs of the state by saying, “Through strong bilateral ties and even closer people to people bonds, I assure you that the best is yet to come in U.S.-India trade and commercial relations.”

The land acquisition policy that has been recently proposed has its advantages and disadvantages, like the present one in force! Nevertheless, land is required for industry to grow.. and role of the government can not be completely neglected. While the business houses would be in a better position to buy land directly (due to less aggitations and lesser legal issues), it would also want to feel safe that they do not lose possession on the land. I assume that the government will take a significant role in helping the business houses close the deals. Yet to see what comes out finally, but I personally believe that if the new government has a comprehensive plan for the Kolkata Metropolitan Area, it would be in a good position to identify (a) good land map, and (b) available and proposed infrastructure in the area.

I think Didi will adopt and adapt as needed. As I have said earlier - her biggest advantage is that she is not held back by any particular "ism" (except populism). So if leading industrialists are wanting some sort of Government intervention, she will provide for it.

However Didi needs to be very careful of the ultra left variety of people in her party and weed them out. West Bengal doesn't need ultra leftism. It needs to adopt pragmatism.

Land mediation panel needed: Biz bosses

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata-/Land-mediation-panel-needed-Biz-bosses/articleshow/8882091.cms

I think WB is also amongst the top states in Ghuntey (Cow dung cake) industry. If GAIL trys to disrupt this industry all intellectuals will protest.

:lol:

Here in New Jersey dry cow dung is sold as fertiliser in large polypacks. I use it for my rose bushes.

And trust me, one thing bad with Kolkata is that it is still "cheap"! "Shoshta sohor" concept has killed Kolkata for ages! Shoshta te khabar paoa jaye bolei hoyto Kolkata te jara khaddo bostu bikri korche (either raw or cooked), tader income kom. Tader khorchao kom. Bhalo kotha. Kintu income barle to se ektu besi khorcha korte pare. In that case money rolling / flow of funds increase korbe sohor e. When money flow will increase, business houses will try to diversify and capture the expenses made by the middle class. The better the business, the more the taxes paid to the government. The better the business, the more the employment. In return the middle class sector will grow in Kolkata. More Kolkatans will have better paying jobs and cheap labour concept will cease to exist. Slowly Kolkata will turn out to be a healthy city with less poverty. [This should not be mis-read or misunderstood. I am not speaking against the poor. I am speaking against poverty!]



I think all cities have problems but the flavours are different. Kolkata is a relatively poor city for various reasons. The hinterland of Bihar, Orissa, Jharkhand and neigbouring districts and states is generally poor. So unless the hinterland improves in totality Kolkata cannot improve in isolation. Poor people will continue to come to the city in search of a better life. In Kolkata we tend to blame the government for the poverty even though a huge chunk of the poor are from neighbouring states. In some other cities the blame is put on migrants from poorer states. You can see that undercurrent even in writings in the media - poverty stricken migrants have come from eastern states and polluted beautiful ABC or cosmopolitan EFG and ... . Even national politicians like Chidambaram and Dixit have made comments that don't fit their stature.

Here in New Jersey dry cow dung is sold as fertiliser in large polypacks. I use it for my rose bushes.

So looks like this is a big export opportunity. The West Bengal Government should definitely take this issue up with CII and the US Trade delegation.

I can already see the future headlines in one of my favorite newspapers:

Bengal Dung Powers US Roses

When Jack meets Jill in Central Park and gives her a dozen roses, little do they know the secret behind those beautiful flowers.

Thousands of miles away, it is Mamata Bannerjee's Nayachar Ecofriendly Gobar Processing Plant that is churning out polypacks of cow dung based fertilizer. Buddhadeb Bhattacharya's failed industrialization in Nayachar is now Mamata Bannerjee's success story in green technologies.

Nayachar Island is now proud home to over a hundred factories producing such green fertilizer. Exports have surged and even Orissa's Dhamra port is seeing the benefits.

More details in Page 3

^^But Jack and Jill toh went up da hill no???

^^But Jack and Jill toh went up da hill no???

It is Central Park in Manhattan for my report.

So looks like this is a big export opportunity. The West Bengal Government should definitely take this issue up with CII and the US Trade delegation.

I can already see the future headlines in one of my favorite newspapers:

Bengal Dung Powers US Roses

^^^^ I like your post. Perhaps after ten years of Didi when Bengal slides back to stone age this gobar export will be our economy!!

^^^^ I like your post. Perhaps after ten years of Didi when Bengal slides back to stone age this gobar export will be our economy!!

Please note though that I was just joking about the media. Not about Didi.

:)

She has already said to industrialists that people say that she is always in a hurry. And mistakes can be made when you are in a hurry. She has quoted Netaji as saying that one has the right to make mistakes. She has also given the example of making mistakes while cooking - like adding too much spice by mistake. So she thinks that mistakes will be made while trying to do work. She has asked the industrialists to come forward and work with her.

She has said that of the 4,800 industrial proposals since 1991 only 1300 have been implemented. She has also criticized bandhs and has accepted that even she has called bandhs and has now realized the futility of it. She has promised packages/incemtives for backward areas. She has asked industrialists to put forward their proposals.

Since everybody clapped and cheered at the end, we could see some good projects coming to the state?

Excerpt from Star Ananda

http://starananda.starnews.in/more/5764-2011-06-18-12-05-05

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/8482/mamataindustry.jpg (http://img98.imageshack.us/i/mamataindustry.jpg/)

West Bengal industry disagrees with expert committee recommendation on land acquisition

West Bengal's industry has strongly opposed the recommendations of an expert committee that government will have no role to play in land acquisition for private industry, saying it would be difficult for them to buy a large chunk of land whose ownership is largely fragmented in the state.

Industrialists and economists said the government should act as the "facilitator" or at least play a "policing" role.

Read on (http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/west-bengal-industry-disagrees-with-expert-committee-recommendation-on-land-acquisition/articleshow/8899259.cms)

India Inc may settle for 50% less land in West Bengal

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/india-inc-may-settle-for-50-less-land-in-west-bengal/articleshow/8896150.cms

India Inc may have to settle for 50% less land in Mamata Banerjee's West Bengal, if current indications prove true.

The two-member committee set up recently by the chief minister to formulate a new land policy has suggested that business houses can acquire up to 5 hectares without having to seek the state government's permission. In the CPI(M) era, the same threshold was 9.7 hectares.

In other words, the Marxists allowed business houses to acquire up to 24 acres, which translates to 9.7 hectares, without having to seek a clearance from the government. The recommendation this time is for 12.5 acres (5 hectares). That, however, does not mean more land won't be given, if asked for.

Speaking to ET, Bandopadhyay, a former officer of the state's land and land reforms department and who now heads this committee, said: "Why will business establishments require more than five hectares for their projects?

However, if it is indeed needed for a project, they just need to explain that and seek permission. The state government, with the help of the regulator, will thereafter fix the rate at which the transaction can take place. That is all."

"All Didi says is that industries should buy only so much land as is required for setting up the project. Every acre needs to be accounted for," said a Trinamool official.

I can already see the future headlines in one of my favorite newspapers:

Bengal Dung Powers US Roses

:lol:

can we have the "details" from page 3? :cheers:

So looks like this is a big export opportunity. The West Bengal Government should definitely take this issue up with CII and the US Trade delegation.

I can already see the future headlines in one of my favorite newspapers:

Bengal Dung Powers US Roses

:lol:

Mamata talks tough at India Inc meet

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/mamata-talks-tough-at-india-inc-meet/439652/

The message from the month-old Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in West Bengal under Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is clear — it will not tolerate delay in implementation of big ticket industrial projects.

During her investors’ meet on Saturday, Banerjee almost came down heavily on the delay in implementation of the Rs 35,000-crore JSW Steel Salboni project in this context. She said, the fact that of the 4,000-odd investment proposals in Bengal since 1991, only 1,500 had borne fruit was thoroughly unacceptable to ‘this’ government.

“Land is there with certain industrial groups, but they are not doing it. Sajjan Jindal Group Salboni industrial...,” Banerjee said, while she was stopped in between by the state industry and commerce minister, Partha Chatterjee. She toned it down to, “I know they need time also. Raghunathpur (a Jai Balaji steel plant project) is also pending. Chart out your problems, you have to do it fast,” she said.

In a two-hour interaction with industry chieftains, Banerjee reiterated the government's stance that it would not assist the industry in acquiring land, while stating that the focus of her government's industrialisation drive would be through information technology (IT) and tourism projects.

"We do not have unlimited land, so we will make do with available resources and industries like IT and tourism. No huge land is required for this and can be developed through hubs. Industry, if it wants to acquire land, can do it on its own," she said.

Banerjee's stance on land acquisition, however, appeared to have disappointed industry, which had in the past found it difficult to acquire land for large projects on its own. The sentiments were voiced by ITC chairman Y C Deveshwar.

"Land had been promised to us five years back and now we have been told to go and buy it ourselves. It is possible to buy small amount of land but one cannot buy large tracts. It will be difficult for investors to come if they find procurement of land is a problem," he said.

Banerjee disregarded openly the problems faced by industry in acquiring land. When a businessman voiced problems with middlemen and unwanted elements, she said: "Middlemen are there; they will always be there. You have to work with them," she said. Adi Godrej, who said he had investments worth Rs 2,000 crore in Bengal already, was one of the few big-ticket national industry faces present at the event. He said, Banerjee should consider repealing the Urban Land Ceiling Act (ULCA).

"I think the key to Bengal's growth will be the housing industry. For this the state has to amend the ULCA, a redundant act. That aside, we are very interested in investing further in the state," he said.

The meet saw paltry participation from national industry bigwigs.

The meet, which was the first of its kind in Bengal, saw paltry commitment to investment. One such intent came from Shivinder Mohan Singh, MD, Fortis Healthcare.

"We have a 500-bed facility worth Rs 300 crore in Bengal, which we want to double soon," he said. Banerjee, who rode to victory on her Ma Mati Manush stance appeared more interested in healthcare infrastructure than in investment. "You do your business. That is fine. If you have any pro-poor proposal, then tell us," she said. The chief minister also claimed US and Japan had evinced interest in the state and asked for proposals FDI from Bengal.

Watched the live telecast on TV ... Amit Mitra is impressive. Mamata, industrialists may not be pleased with her stance, but she is candid and very open. The affair was low key with no commitment from any industry group ... probably shows the scepticism they have with the new goverment.

Watched the live telecast on TV ... Amit Mitra is impressive. Mamata, industrialists may not be pleased with her stance, but she is candid and very open. The affair was low key with no commitment from any industry group ... probably shows the scepticism they have with the new goverment.

Fortis to Spend 6 Billion Rupees to Add Beds in West Bengal
By Pradipta Mukherjee - Jun 19, 2011 10:02 AM GMT+0530

Fortis Healthcare India Ltd., a hospitals operator, plans to invest 6 billion rupees ($134 million) to add 1,000 beds in the state of West Bengal, Managing Director Shivinder Mohan Singh told reporters on the sidelines of a state government event in Kolkata yesterday.

“We have already invested 3 billion rupees in the state for putting up 500 beds,” Singh said. He did not give a schedule for the investment.

Bridging Bengal: PE investors who will drive new Bengal Inc
19 Jun, 2011, 12.12AM IST, Anuradha Himatsingka,ET Bureau

A day before Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress swept to power in West Bengal on Friday the 13th, ushering in the much-called-for political poriborton (change in Bengali), 36-year-old Mehul Mohanka was quietly celebrating a professional triumph and the poriborton of the business his father, Madan Mohanka, founded in 1976.

Mehul, executive director of Tega Industries, who heads its international business division, had just sealed a deal with TA Associates , a Boston-based private equity (PE) firm. TA invested $40 million in Kolkata-based Tega, which offers products and services for the mining industry, for a nearly 15% stake. It was the first time that Tega, which has manufacturing facilities in India, South Africa and Chile and customers in 65 countries, roped in an outside institutional investor.

"The first reaction post transaction was that of relief," recalls Mehul. "It was a long and gruelling six months during which the entire team worked tirelessly to complete the equity-raising process," he adds. On that day, the Mohankas and the Tega team popped a bottle of bubbly.

That's something many companies in West Bengal have been doing in recent times, as some of the marquee PE firms are investing in companies in a state that has been for long considered the boondocks of the Indian business landscape. Private equity giant Bain Capital, which had set up offices in India in 2008, made its debut investment in the country by investing in Kolkata-based Himadri Chemicals & Industries in January 2010. Bain has a 26% stake in Himadri, with a total investment of around $90 million. It was almost immediately followed by Nine Rivers Capital, a Mauritiusbased PE investing in GPT Infraprojects, a Kolkata infrastructure company. In June 2010, Sequoia Capital acquired over 7% in another city-based company Hindusthan National Glass & Industries (HNG), for around `127 crore.

According to VCCEdge, since April 2009, PE investments worth $380 million in 22 deals have gone to West Bengal. Of this, nearly $140 million have been invested in companies in the past three months. That's staggering considering that companies invested about $97 million in the whole of 2010-11, and $143 million in 2009-10. The deals have bought attention to companies beyond West Bengal's traditional big businesses like Haldia and ITC. "For Kolkata-based companies, such deals are critical as it is one step closer to relinquishing the city's tag of being an unattractive destination for PE money," says Mohanka.


New Beginning

So, why are blue-chip PE firms that are known for their better-safe-than-sorry approach investing in companies that are based out of perhaps India's most investor-unfriendly state? West Bengal had not been able to attract PE investments in the past for various reasons, one of them being its political climate and the negative attitude of the government. State government officials were not proactive enough to attract investment in the state. "Although things changed over the past five-to-six years with Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee-led government realising that industrialisation was the way ahead.


The initiatives came to a naught again for political reasons," says Anup K Sinha, the acting director at the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta. "Hence, big-ticket investments did not flow into the state, but midsize PE monies started pouring into low-profile flourishing companies that were content with small amounts from PE investors," he adds. What is drawing PE firms to these smaller firms? "The location has never been a concern for us because they have managed industrial relations very well in the past," says Dhiraj Poddar, director of TA Associates, about the rationale behind the Tega investment.

Poddar's statement more or less explains the twin criteria that PE investors evaluate before investing a business venture in the state: a business model that looks beyond the state's domestic market and labour concerns. As a result, most of the companies that PE firms have invested in the state derive significant portion of their revenues from the rest of India, if not global markets. Take Shree Ganesh Jewellery House , one of the largest manufacturers and exporters of handcrafted and machine made gold jewellery. About 88 % of the company's total turnover of `5,855 crore comes from exports to markets like the UAE, Singapore and Hong Kong. In 2008, Credit Suisse infused `80 crore in return for a 10.99% stake in the company. At least 60 % of Tega's revenues are spawned by exports to customers in 65-odd countries.

PE firms also see an opportunity in tapping companies in markets that are relatively unexplored. As Nikhil Balaraman, principal, Sequoia Capital explains, "Traditionally, investors have not been looking at eastern India for various reasons. Even large established companies have remained un-discovered." HNG, the company Sequoia invested in as the first PE, has a market share of 55% in India and exports to 23 countries. "HNG is also a pan-Indian company - though it is based in Kolkata, five out of six manufacturing units are located outside West Bengal and the company's clients are also located across India," adds Balaraman.

Close Look

Given the state's militant trade unions, PE firms carefully examine a company's history of labour disputes before pulling out the cheque books. "PE investors took five-to-six months to go through the accounts and our manufacturing facility," says Nilesh Parekh, chairman, Shree Ganesh Jewellery House. Scrutiny of that nature is something West Bengal's entrepreneurs expect and understand. "Given Bengal's legacy with trade unions, investors are wary of the prospects of their investment when compared with other states," says Tega's Mohanka. "We have been a victim of trade union activity wherein one of our factories was shut twice for almost eight months each. This affected not only our employees but also our customers and forced us to consider setting up a manufacturing facility in Hyderabad," he adds.


Besides labour issues, Kolkata also faces infrastructure constraints. Foreign carriers like British Airways and Malaysian Airlines had stopped operating international from Kolkata. "Frontline investment advisers, bankers, tax advisers operate out of Mumbai or Delhi. It is impossible to do these transactions from Kolkata or trying to create international linkages for your own business. Frequent trips to Mumbai and Delhi had to be made to clinch a deal," says HNG CFO Laxmi Narayan Mandhana.


Promising Future

Despite these constraints, these companies are optimistic that a change in business environment is around the corner. In any case, they are already putting a Plan B in place. "The Left government may have taken three years to develop a gems and jewellery dedicated SEZ at Manikanchan in Kolkata. But when they did, they created an international standard facility," says Shree Ganesh's Parekh. "We tried to cash in on whatever was provided to us instead of moaning about what was not available... we will move to Gujarat or even Mumbai if the new government does not become proactive and initiate steps to either develop the second phase of the SEZ at Manikanchan or create an industrial friendly climate in the state," says Parekh.

Himadri Chemicals & Industries, a leading integrated speciality carbon corporation and largest coal tar pitch maker, has six manufacturing facilities in India and one in China. It is hoping to invest more in the state if the business environment improves. "We may then look at expanding the coal tar distillation capacity to 1 million tonne covering India and China. After having invested `720 crore in Haripal (in Hooghly district), we have plans to invest another `1,200 crore at this site. We are also looking to set up capacities in Orissa," says Anurag Choudhary, CEO at Himadri Chemicals, which has been growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 35 % over the last five years.

Other companies too have ambitious growth plans. "Our growth plans include setting up of a large-scale manufacturing facility with an installed capacity of 35,000 kg of gold jewellery to cater to the Indian market, acquiring a retail chain as well as a brand overseas to cater to Chinese market with European jewellery," says Shree Ganesh's Parekh. The company plans to spend up to `150 crore in buying a retail chain and another e150 million to acquire a brand.

GPT Infraprojects, a Kolkata-based infrastructure company, says its PE deal with Mauritius-based Nine Rivers Capital, has raised its profile. "Changing the perception fund managers had about companies from eastern India was a Herculean task. The deal will help the company improve its profile and prepare itself for listing on NSE and BSE," says Atul Tantia, executive director, GPT Infraprojects, which manufactures concrete sleepers for railways, and is also involved in civil infrastructure projects for railways, roads, airports and urban infrastructure.

"We will look for more equity infusion over the next two-to-three years to part finance our growth plans involving participation in more PPP projects as well as EPC-based contracts and hope to maintain a CAGR of 30-35 % in the future."

As for Tega, it plans to use its freshly raised funds to expand capacity and is exploring acquisitions in the near future. "We hope that in time to come, we are recognised as a truly global company, based out of Kolkata and thereby set an example for many others to do the same," says Tega's Mohanka.

WB govt banks on IT sector to boost employment

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/wb-govt-banksit-sector-to-boost-employment/439727/

Newly elected West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is set to make the information technology (IT) sector her new mantra for ridding the state of unemployment and growth.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader made it clear on the day she met industry chieftans that she plans to focus on IT, given the land constraints as the new growth engine.

“IT and tourism have a lot of potential in the state. We can create IT hubs in every district to give employment to the youth that has been forced to move out because of absence of work,” she said. IT was, incidentally, the mantra for former Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee for the first five years of his tenure when he focused on setting up the fledgling industry in the state by creating the IT hub at Sector V in Salt Lake.

Experts however opine that no matter how labour intensive the IT industry might be, it requires skilled workers and over the past decade barely a few lakhs have been employed through the sector in Bengal.

“We do not have unlimited land, so we will make do with available resources and industries like IT and tourism. No huge land is required for this and can be developed through hubs. Industry, if it wants to acquire land, can do it on its own,” Banerjee said.

West Bengal commerce and industries minister Partha Chatterjee, however said that given the issue of land shortage, IT companies will not be given land for campuses, but will have to work within built-in office spaces.

“IT is a labour, not capital intensive industry. Why will they be given huge portions of land? Land is a problem. We cannot tolerate, two buildings in 100 acres and the rest left idle,” he explained the government’s policy.
Chatterjee said that the government was currently in the process of examining proposals from ITC Infotech and the Purnendu Chatterjee-led TCG group, declining to divulge further details.

West Bengal industry disagrees with expert committee recommendation on land acquisition



India Inc may settle for 50% less land in West Bengal

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/india-inc-may-settle-for-50-less-land-in-west-bengal/articleshow/8896150.cms

^^Is Bandapadhay a crack brained idiot to ask why a company needs more than 12.5 acres or was it in reference to something specific ? If he really did, then Didi needs to remove him by the sleight of her hand.

Or perhaps our over enthusiastic reporter did not pay enough attention!

WB govt banks on IT sector to boost employment

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/wb-govt-banksit-sector-to-boost-employment/439727/

^^IT companies cannot be given land for campuses?? What about the land already given to Infy, Wipro, TCS and Cognizant amounting to almost 200 acres!

^^Is Bandapadhay a crack brained idiot to ask why a company needs more than 12.5 acres or was it in reference to something specific ? If he really did, then Didi needs to remove him by the sleight of her hand. !

Mr Bandopadhyay is probably a little towards the ultra left. He was very upset when Mr Nitish Kumar didn't use his recommendations. There are so many Mamata supporters and economic experts always criticizing operation barga of Left Front which is said to have been implemented by Mr Bandopadhyay. And on the other hand we have Mr Bandopadhyay in Miss Mamata's team. Not sure why Mamata has retained this person in her team.

^^IT companies cannot be given land for campuses?? What about the land already given to Infy, Wipro, TCS and Cognizant amounting to almost 200 acres!

I would say chop off their requirements to 10-15 acres. Ask them to build modern skyscrapers. This can be the "Bengal IT Land Model" and can force other states to follow Bengal. Let's see if the Mamata Ministry is brave enough and if the IT companies take the bait.

:cheers:

Why do the companies need even 10-15 acres, they can buy/lease the built up places directly from the developer. Its another matter, if the companies will listen and agree. Earlier, HIDCO asked for higher price from Infy and Wipro, they didn't budge and after wasting 3-4 years, HIDCO offered the land at the reduced price to Infy & Wipro. So, it's highly unlikely that companies will accept any drastic reduction in the land they were offered. TML shifted the factory and took huge loss even though they have the options of stay at Singur without any trouble on 600 acres. Why do you think, the IT companies will behave differently?

Why do the companies need even 10-15 acres, they can buy/lease the built up places directly from the developer. Its another matter, if the companies will listen and agree. Earlier, HIDCO asked for higher price from Infy and Wipro, they didn't budge and after wasting 3-4 years, HIDCO offered the land at the reduced price to Infy & Wipro. So, it's highly unlikely that companies will accept any drastic reduction in the land they were offered. TML shifted the factory and took huge loss even though they have the options of stay at Singur without any trouble on 600 acres. Why do you think, the IT companies will behave differently?

^^When a company builds their own campus they look at the long term benefits. Thus monetory benefits, lower cost of maintenance and scalability ( to expand) based on market requirements are the key advantages. As an example most of the Infy campuses in India are built by "Shobha developers".

I have a personal observation w.r.t maintenance . I have been to the Wipro & PwC (Sector-V opp Techno India) campuses and also to a couple of IT parks in Sector V/New town corridor. I find that they (PWC & Wipro) are better maintained than even DLF IT park which is supposed to be a grade A building.

If the developer leases out the entire building to one company and assigns one contract for the physical & technical maintenance then it is good but suppose we have a 30 storey tower on 5 acres leased out to 15 different companies each with their own maintenance team then it is definitely not a good idea. I am not sure if the developer maintains the property over a period in time.

Bottomline is the state govt cannot dictate stringent policies and expect the industry to obey beyond a point in time. West Bengal must understand that.

^^When a company builds their own campus they look at the long term benefits. Thus monetory benefits, lower cost of maintenance and scalability ( to expand) based on market requirements are the key advantages. As an example most of the Infy campuses in India are built by "Shobha developers".

I have a personal observation w.r.t maintenance . I have been to the Wipro & PwC (Sector-V opp Techno India) campuses and also to a couple of IT parks in Sector V/New town corridor. I find that they (PWC & Wipro) are better maintained than even DLF IT park which is supposed to be a grade A building.

If the developer leases out the entire building to one company and assigns one contract for the physical & technical maintenance then it is good but suppose we have a 30 storey tower on 5 acres leased out to 15 different companies each with their own maintenance team then it is definitely not a good idea. I am not sure if the developer maintains the property over a period in time.

Bottomline is the state govt cannot dictate stringent policies and expect the industry to obey beyond a point in time. West Bengal must understand that.

Agree with you...But it is unacceptable to have 3-4 floors building in IT Campus.

^^When a company builds their own campus they look at the long term benefits. Thus monetory benefits, lower cost of maintenance and scalability ( to expand) based on market requirements are the key advantages. As an example most of the Infy campuses in India are built by "Shobha developers".

I have a personal observation w.r.t maintenance . I have been to the Wipro & PwC (Sector-V opp Techno India) campuses and also to a couple of IT parks in Sector V/New town corridor. I find that they (PWC & Wipro) are better maintained than even DLF IT park which is supposed to be a grade A building.

If the developer leases out the entire building to one company and assigns one contract for the physical & technical maintenance then it is good but suppose we have a 30 storey tower on 5 acres leased out to 15 different companies each with their own maintenance team then it is definitely not a good idea. I am not sure if the developer maintains the property over a period in time.

Bottomline is the state govt cannot dictate stringent policies and expect the industry to obey beyond a point in time. West Bengal must understand that.



I have a different opinion on this. The Indian IT MNCs usually maintain their own campuses and a major reason being that they want to save their rental expenses. If you look at Infy campuses in Bangalore and Pune, they never seem to be more than 10 storied ( at max). They will gobble up huge tracts of lands and will not build 20-25 storied skyscrapers, as if to save on the expenses related to the civil foundation work needed . I am not sure of the actual reason but their supporters ( employees / management stuff) can come up with any reason to support this I know . The point is except perhaps Infy, Igate and Mindtree we now have all the big Indian service providing companies in Kolkata. In fact what the govt can do is start giving land to these companies in Tier-2 cities like Durgapur, Siliguri, Kharagpur etc. With the salaries that these companies pay, it will also be helpful for the employees working in those companies to maintain a decent lifestyle in these small towns.

In my opinion, we should start thinking about moving up the value chain and making a Kolkata a hub of the silicon valley R & D companies . Its the same direction in which Bangalore and Hyderabad had also moved. Lets concentrate more on Cisco, EMC2, HP, Oracle, Google , Microsoft, VMware, Netapp, Juniper Networks, LSI Logic, Facebook, Zynga etc

CM Nurtures Silicon Dream

Mamata Banerjee focuses on IT to make West Bengal the countrys next software hub

SUTANUKA GHOSAL & WRITANKAR MUKHERJEE ET KOLKATA
When Mamata Banerjee raised her election battle pitch of maa-matimanush (mother,motherland and people) and promised revival of the jute and SME industry,very few imagined that she as Bengals chief minister will ever place her bets on a new economy sector.But this is precisely what the lady is now planning to do: focus on the information technology (IT) sector to revive Bengals industrialisation fortunes,with bigger ambitions than her predecessors.If the Left Front government is credited to have built the states two IT hubs,in Salt Lake Sector V and Rajarhat,Banerjee wants to take a step forward to turn her state into Indias next Silicon Valley.Talking to ET,West Bengal industry and IT Minister Partha Chatterjee says the decision to focus on IT and woo investors from across the world is due to the two factors its huge employment generation capability and requirement of relatively lesser tracts of land to set up IT infrastructure than other industries.IT can create much more jobs in lesser tract of land than manufacturing.IT infrastructure can grow vertically.West Bengal has a huge talent pool which can also be absorbed in IT.Our Chief Minister,therefore,feels that West Bengal should be marketed as Indias next Silicon Valley, says Chatterjee.Banerjee in her 30 days in office has realised that IT can solve two issues create jobs without ruffling the sensitive land issue in the state.Already,more than one lakh people are employed in the IT sector at almost half the space than what a large manufacturing plant like Tata Nano may require.As Kalyan Kar,MD of the US-based KPO Acclaris and a key member of the Salt Lake Sector V club says: IT can create more jobs than any other industry.For instance,Sector V employs more than 80,000 people in some 430 acres. No wonder Bengals industry and IT minister has already kicked off an exercise to expedite the process of attracting mega IT investments in the state.And his bags are already full.We are actively pursuing the proposals of ITC Infotech,Wipro and Infosys to expedite their expansion process.We are also hastening up the infrastructure development in Rajarhat where Infosys and Wipro have been allotted land.I have been invited by Infosys to visit to their headquarters in Bangalore,but will first ensure that their infrastructure is ready before meeting them, says Chatterjee:okay:.Apart from these,the Mamata Banerjee government has already received a fresh proposal from NRI investor Purnendu Chatterjees TCG Software.TCG wants to grow its presence in the state.:cheers:Their unit promises to create jobs for a few thousands, the minister adds.Banerjees IT mission is going to be a tad different from her predecessors.While the earlier government was focussed on creating IT special economic zones (SEZs) over large tracts of land,the new government is going to steer clear of such proposals.We are against the idea of setting up of IT SEZ that requires at least minimum 25 acres.This will ensure that we do not need large tracts of land.We are already in talks with many global and domestic IT players,who are keen to invest in Bengal.Let it happen then we will announce their names, Chatterjee added.According to Pradip Dutta,managing director of California-based leading semiconductor software firm Synopsys India,the new government can ensure West Bengal claim a rightful place in the hardware and semi-conductor industry.The semi-conductor and electronic hardware industry is taking a big leap in India and West Bengal can rightfully seize this opportunity.The foundation of the IT industry is already laid in Bengal and what is required now is some hardcore marketing to the IT world,not only in India but even in the West Coast, says Dutta,who is also the chairman of India Semiconductor Association and was an IT advisor to the erstwhile Left Front government.Dutta says the new government should immediately revive the proposed semiconductor facility,India Design Centre,which was stuck due to its capital-intensive nature.West Bengal has the potential to corner up to 10% of the National Electronic Mission projects which aims to build a hardware industry worth $400-billion by 2020, he says.Banerjee,during her Saturday meeting with industrialists had laid stress on building a strong hardware industry in the state.There is potential across the state,including in Darjeeling,where there is huge talent and conducive weather, she said.Kar of Acclaris too agrees that the government can successfully spread the IT industry into smaller towns like Siliguri,Durgapur and Haldia without much hassle than what may have been required for manufacturing.The IT bandwagon is also happy with the chief ministers announcement to stop the culture of bandhs and strikes.Disruptive political environment affects the IT industry the most, says Suparno Moitra,regional manager of Nasscom.At the same time,Banerjee is making an effort to balance her industrialisation drive with social sector reforms.Health and education are two areas which have already caught her attraction.Surprise visits to state-run hospitals are almost a routine affair for her.But now she wants to set up health cities,diagnostic centres and multi-speciality hospitals across Bengal on a public-private-partnership model.She has sought the help of industrialists present at the investment summit.In the education sector,she is keen to set up state-of-the-art colleges and institutions and vocational training centres to enhance the employability of Bengal youths.They should stay here and not leave Bengal.You will help them to stay here, Mamata had said during her interaction with the industrialists.

CM Nurtures Silicon Dream

Mamata Banerjee focuses on IT to make West Bengal the countrys next software hub

^^Ok, so now there is a consensus to focus on building the IT sector which is great!:) This woman is smart, there was no mention of IT during the election campaigns and very little in the manifesto since it may negatively influence the votebank, but now the state govt may go places to promote the IT/ITES sector. One of the first things is to publish a comprehensive land bank clearly indicating how/where the land will used for the sector. Then they should distribute it to the RMZs/Rahejas/Prestige/DLF etc so that they can close deals with the govt and develop integrated IT parks.

CESC,State Utility Plan Power Unit with Gail Gas
DEBJOY SENGUPTA ET KOLKATA

CESC and a Bengals power utility are looking at the possibility of setting up gas-based peaking power stations in the state with inputs from Gas Authority of India (Gail).A peaking power station is run to meet demand during a surge and is generally kept idle when consumption is low.Generation from gas-based power units can be stepped up in a short time when demand rises and can also be reduced when it is not required.A senior official from the West Bengal power department said: Since Bengal is located on the coal belt of India,it does not make sense to put up gas-based power units for meeting power demand throughout the day.The cost of gas may not justify the investment if it is put up to meet base demand.Instead,we are in talks with Gail officials to set up peaking power units. CESC Vice-Chairman Sanjiv Goenka said: Our executives are in talks with Gail officials who are keen on supplying gas in the state.We are looking at various possibilities.However,a final decision is yet to be reached and there are likely to be a few more rounds of talks with them. Gail officials met top executives from the state government as well as CESC to discuss the modalities of the supply arrangement.At present,we are in talks on the commercial terms and the rates at which gas may be made available by Gail.Power generated from gas turbines is generally higher than power generated from coal-fired boilers and Gail intends to supply imported gas,all these have made us look at the possibility of setting up gas-based peaking power plant, the power ministry official said.Gail will bring gas through a pipeline from Jagdishpur in Uttar Pradesh to Haldia,the industrial township in East Midnapore.Once implemented,the Jagdishpur-Haldia gas supply pipeline will be the biggest such pipeline of Gail,covering 2,050km,at an investment of around.8,000 crore.The state government put up a hydel peaking power station in the state in 2008.Christened Purulia Pump Storage Project,it generates about 900 mw of power during the peak power demand period by discharging stored water from an upper dam to lower dam through reversible pump turbine and generation motors.The pump storage project helps stabilising grid frequency in the region,meeting peak-hour power demand instantly,improving plant load factor (PLF) of thermal power stations and also utilising surplus grid power to pump water from lower dam to upper dam in lean hours.

WB govt to set up 17 industrial clusters (http://ibnlive.in.com/news/wb-govt-to-set-up-17-industrial-clusters/161477-3.html)


Kolkata: The West Bengal government has decided to set up 17 industrial clusters to boost growth of small and medium scale industries with orders issued to identify the land.

The 17 industrial clusters would come up in 17 districts which have demanded more clusters for industrial growth, Industry Minister Partha Chatterjee said.

Chatterjee also said that steps were being taken to assess the present status of land of the closed industrial units and how they could be utilised.


No land allotted for setting up industries, he said, would be allowed to remain unutilised for long.

"We are looking at how land lying unutilised for long can be utilised effectively," the minister said.

Reiterating the party stand, Chatterjee said that no land could be acquired for industry without the consent of owners.

He said that he would convene a meeting on Wednesday to assess the present status of 13 state PSUs.

Chatterjee, who met former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee on the advice of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, said "we sought his experience as a former WBIDC chairman which could be utilised for the state's development."

"I have sent his suggestions to Mamata Banerjee along with Somnathbabu's best wishes to her."

Highways ministry speeds up plan to widen crucial NH in Bengal

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Highways-ministry-speeds-up-plan-to-widen-crucial-NH-in-Bengal/articleshow/8945285.cms

The highways ministry on Tuesday pushed its plan to widen NH-34, the 430-km highway considered as the lifeline of the state connecting Kolkata and Dalkhola.

At a top-level meeting with NHAI officials and representatives of three private developers, highways minister C P Joshi, apparently reaching out to the new state leadership, directed officials to expedite land acquisition and speed up shifting of utilities for four-laning of the highway.

The widening work has already been awarded to three major private concessionaires and would be done in five packages. Out of the five packages, the private developer for first three packages has achieved the financial closure. "So, we expect the work to start soon. The remaining two packages have been awarded. We expect the project to be completed in three years," an official who attended Tuesday's meeting said. The widening project would cost about Rs 5,000 crores and the entire stretch will be a tolled road after the work is over.

He added that with the change of guard in the state, they would write to the Mamata Banerjee government to speed up the land acquisition process for timely completion. "We will also seek the state's support to shift the utilities so that the deadlines are not pushed," said another ministry official.

^^ The whole NH34 land acquisition was stopped by all those "Shilpo Ucched Committee". There should not be any problem now..:cheers:

^^ The whole NH34 land acquisition was stopped by all those "Shilpo Ucched Committee". There should not be any problem now..:cheers:

It will be ironic if the people who wouldn't allow land acquistion for NH will now have to acquire it. Hopefully they will pay all the grand compensation promised plus govt jobs etc.

BTW why not build an elevated expressway from Kolkata to Siliguri? As per newspapers Japan and USA are wanting to invest in infrastructure in West Bengal. Also L&T wants to invest after 34 years. What better project that this?

DVC want to shift 1200 MW Power Plant from Jharkhand to WB due to land problem in Jharkhand. (http://www.anandabazar.in/22bus3.html)

What about the widening of Jessrore Road to Bonga? That project is also on hold for last three years because of agaitation by 'Bhumi Uchhed Committee'.

DVC want to shift 1200 MW Power Plant from Jharkhand to WB due to land problem in Jharkhand. (http://www.anandabazar.in/22bus3.html)

:cheer:

I have a different opinion on this. The Indian IT MNCs usually maintain their own campuses and a major reason being that they want to save their rental expenses. If you look at Infy campuses in Bangalore and Pune, they never seem to be more than 10 storied ( at max). They will gobble up huge tracts of lands and will not build 20-25 storied skyscrapers, as if to save on the expenses related to the civil foundation work needed . I am not sure of the actual reason but their supporters ( employees / management stuff) can come up with any reason to support this I know . The point is except perhaps Infy, Igate and Mindtree we now have all the big Indian service providing companies in Kolkata. In fact what the govt can do is start giving land to these companies in Tier-2 cities like Durgapur, Siliguri, Kharagpur etc. With the salaries that these companies pay, it will also be helpful for the employees working in those companies to maintain a decent lifestyle in these small towns.

In my opinion, we should start thinking about moving up the value chain and making a Kolkata a hub of the silicon valley R & D companies . Its the same direction in which Bangalore and Hyderabad had also moved. Lets concentrate more on Cisco, EMC2, HP, Oracle, Google , Microsoft, VMware, Netapp, Juniper Networks, LSI Logic, Facebook, Zynga etc

Actually, it's not that simple or straight forward. When a company invests in a place, how attractive that place is people within/outside the state is also an issue. I keep hearing that industry should go to small towns, small towns should be made the issue but if industry has to go to smaller towns then there have to be the facilities that a working professional would want. Why do people move to Delhi? (or London/Mumbai/New York) It's because of the different kinds of amenities available there, including housing, healthcare, transport, malls, good schools/colleges, hospitals, job opportunities in different sectors. At a minimum, the supporting infrastructure neccessary for a professional (including the basics like roads/water/electricity) need to be there. In the absence of these, giving cheap land alone won't be sufficient.

So far I think it's too early to evaluate the MB government. But if they do seriously want to develop smaller town Bengal, they need to create the amenities that would make them attractive.

Airport@Balughat may start again after 1989 (http://epratidin.in/epaperimages/2262011/2262011-md-hr-3/2261746.JPG)
http://epratidin.in/epaperimages/2262011/2262011-md-hr-3/2261746.JPG

Actually, it's not that simple or straight forward. When a company invests in a place, how attractive that place is people within/outside the state is also an issue. I keep hearing that industry should go to small towns, small towns should be made the issue but if industry has to go to smaller towns then there have to be the facilities that a working professional would want. Why do people move to Delhi? (or London/Mumbai/New York) It's because of the different kinds of amenities available there, including housing, healthcare, transport, malls, good schools/colleges, hospitals, job opportunities in different sectors. At a minimum, the supporting infrastructure neccessary for a professional (including the basics like roads/water/electricity) need to be there. In the absence of these, giving cheap land alone won't be sufficient.

^^You are absolutely right. Nobody can dictate or lay down strict rules to the person with the money. The "impressions" coupled with the available infrastructure are what attracts a potential investor. If the state needs to develop the IT sector they should make these small towns investor friendly and market them very hard to create positive impressions in the minds of the investors. A densely populated city with slums can be an excellent investment destination and it has less to do with overall planning or the quality of life. if that were not the case, then Chandigarh would be the IT and business capital of India and not Bangalore/Mumbai.

Land reclaim for Sagar port soon

Work on reclaiming 2,000 acres from sea for the deep-draughted port on Sagar Island has started. According to Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) chairman M L Meena, the pilot project for construction of a 1-km dyke limit has already been tendered out. This will cost Rs 31 crore. The total length of the dyke on the western fringe of the island will be 5 km and the total project cost (for dyke construction) will be nearly Rs 110 crore.

"We will be using geo-tubes to construct the dykes. This is for the first time in the country that something of this sort is being attempted. Mud will be pumped into the geo tubes to build the dykes. Once the tubes settle, the receptacle that is formed will be filled with silt collected from the navigational channel during dredging operations. This will reduce the reshoaling of the channel to some extent as the dredged silt will be removed from the river system. We gave a presentation about this and other projects to state chief secretary Samar Ghosh on Tuesday. He was quite impressed and assured us of all assistance," Meena said.

The port will cost nearly Rs 3,000 crore and will be built on a Public Private Partnership basis. The proposal is to build 10-12 riverine jetties along a five km stretch where depth will be over 10 metres. In its initial stages, the port will have the potential to handle about 60 million tonnes of dry bulk/break bulk cargo and containers. The port would be able to handle Handymax (40,000 tonnes), Panamax (60,000 tonnes), Suezmax (75,000) and Capesize (90,000 tonnes) vessels as well as those carrying up to 3,000 TEUs of containers. KoPT has projected that it would be able to handle nearly 20 million tonnes of coking coal, iron ore or limestone and over 10 million tonnes of containers at Sagar. TNN

State Plans to Revive Sick PSUs
OUR BUREAU ET KOLKATA

Mamata Banerjees government will leave no stone unturned to turn around sick state-owned public sector undertakings (PSUs) and also ensure zero retrenchment across these units.State industry minister Partha Chatterjee told reporters at Writers Buildings on Wednesday that the government plans to revive state-run PSUs.We will not retrench any employees working in these units, he said.Chatterjee met several PSU heads and sought a status report on these units,a majority of which are running at los ses.Altogether,13 PSU heads attended the meeting.Interestingly,the previous Left Front government had chalked out a plan to revive 17 loss-making PSUs.It had proposed that loans be taken from DFID,World Bank and Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC) for their revival.The Centre had also given green light for going ahead with such borrowings from international organisations.But the new government may not follow the previous governments strategy.It is learnt that the new government may encourage employees in these units to accept voluntary retirement schemes (VRS),bring changes in the management of these units and follow fresh ideas in marketing the products of these PSUs and introduce new technology to increase their production.

^^Some really good news!!....:)

I just hope that the Singur issue doesnt effect the enthusiasm of the investors interested in investing in Bengal.........Keeping fingers Xd!!

^^You are absolutely right. Nobody can dictate or lay down strict rules to the person with the money. The "impressions" coupled with the available infrastructure are what attracts a potential investor. If the state needs to develop the IT sector they should make these small towns investor friendly and market them very hard to create positive impressions in the minds of the investors. A densely populated city with slums can be an excellent investment destination and it has less to do with overall planning or the quality of life. if that were not the case, then Chandigarh would be the IT and business capital of India and not Bangalore/Mumbai.

Another point which I wanted to add is that the issue which really troubles WB is how high population density is. Obviously you promote industry in districts where this is not the case. The problem is that the amenities available in a metropolitan city like Kolkata/Delhi are not available in these districts. The second problem is of course which particular industries one promotes in which places. Like it or not, concentration of industries is a reality which all have to live with. Cities like London, Paris also dominate their respective countries. The difference is that high quality basic amenities are available right down to the villages in these countries. I think WB should take one city-maybe Durgapur and try to promote it to the level of a Surat, Vizag or Pune. WB's development is hampered by the absence of a major Tier II city like one of these three. Rather than spreading oneself too thin, focusing more on one city may be a better option.

Good point ... but the politicians will talk about 'block level development' to collect brownie points and to avoid controversy.

State Plans to Revive Sick PSUs

From the article:

"We will not retrench any employees working in these units"

new government may encourage employees in these units to accept voluntary retirement schemes.

^^So, that means this is what would happen, they would keep all the employees and then the old or bimaru type employee would be lured with good VRS packages, most will be lured, and voila..."saap o morbe, lathi o vangbe na!"

Photo cc tamoghno karmokar

A Siliguri mall..

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1416/5831351561_12db322a7f_b.jpg

^^So, that means this is what would happen, they would keep all the employees and then the old or bimaru type employee would be lured with good VRS packages, most will be lured, and voila..."saap o morbe, lathi o vangbe na!"

The government should have no business running industries. Sell them off or shut them down. And give the employees salaries for life and ask them to stay at home. Even then it will probably be a lesser drain on states finances.

KOLKATA: The Tatas are perhaps never going to invest in West Bengal again, at least not so long as Mamata Banerjee's government is in power. So much was said by Tata representatives in Calcutta High Court on Wednesday during a break in the court proceedings, without of course wanting to get quoted.

"It is clear that Ms Banerjee's government does not want the Tatas here. There is therefore no point in our trying to be here" a senior Tata Motors official said. The Tatas fought the state government all of Wednesday in court to protest against the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, 2011.

"We had wanted to cooperate with the state government and had therefore written a letter, expressing our willingness to invest more in future. But with things having turned out the way they are, there is no possibility of our making any fresh investment in future in West Bengal" the official said.

Tata Motors had invested nearly Rs 1,800 crore in the Nano project at Singur.

Angry words said in a huff perhaps, but then Ratan Tata had also left in one in 2008 when he could take it no more. The Nano project was taken out to Narendra Modi's Gujarat. However, once Mamata Banerjee swept the assembly polls in West Bengal, the Tatas wrote saying that they would be eager to make more investments in the state. When the new government was sworn in, the Tatas wrote to the chief minister congratulating her, to which Mamata also replied back a few days later.

The sudden development concerning the Singur Act , however, has now precipitated matters. As another Tata group official present in court pointed out: "The new government's move only sends the message that there is a lack of continuity in thinking, and that at any point, a decision may change. An investor will take all these into consideration before deciding to make fresh investments. People begin to wonder whether they should go into such a situation"

As an after-thought, the official said : "It is not that we are averse to invest in West Bengal, but there should be a congenial atmosphere. Our Telcon project is doing well. Tata Medical Centre is operational and we face no problem there."


Indeed, it is not easy to decide and then again investment decisions like these would be taken at levels much higher up the chain. The Tatas have hardly ever had a problem in the east and even in West Bengal it has been doing just fine, except the Singur case where almost everything from the beginning had gone haywire.

In a recent internal survey for instance, it was found that the Tata brand name emerged as the most favoured one in eastern India, said the company official. The survey evaluated the Tata brand on two broad parameters - relevance or respect, affinity or love. The survey also tracked how the Tata brand was perceived on three personality attributes - as a mentor, a winner and as a fighter.

The still-born ordinance followed by the Bill which was bulldozed through the legislature and then converted to an Act, had raised enough concern among local industry circles who had wondered whether the chief minister was being too brash and immature about certain things. The chief minister's interface with the industry last week, however, brought back cheer in industry, so much so that even the likes of Shivinder Singh of Fortis or Adi Godrej had words of praise for Mamata.

The Tata case comes therefore at a crucial juncture and on the eve of the scheduled first meeting that Mamata is to have with the 25-member core industry committee she has formed. If the Tatas effectively stop investing in West Bengal any further because of the Singur episode, it may have a deterrent effect on industries outside. It may also make the local industry nervous once more.

The new govt should do some balancing act to sooth the frayed nerve the Singur episode has created among the industrialists. Otherwise, the investors, specially the local one, will say nice words but will not act. Overall, not a promising future for West Bengal in the industrial front if MB doesn't act soon.

@Sumanb, dont worry in next five years there will be very little investment in manufacturing sector. No sensible investor will put his money in that place now. But there may be some investment in service sector. Techies should relocate by hundreds to other parts if India. Long live Bengal's self destructive politics!

Techies should relocate by hundreds to other parts if India. Long live Bengal's self destructive politics!

Well I heard the new Industry, IT Minister of West Bengal claim that researchers from all over the world are calling him to "come back" to West Bengal. Plus many industrialists and investors are also calling him daily with big investment plans in the state. On the very first week I think the new finance minister was claiming that a few companies had called him with $1 billion worth of proposals.

They are surely not exaggerating. So let's not lose hope.

What about the widening of Jessrore Road to Bonga? That project is also on hold for last three years because of agaitation by 'Bhumi Uchhed Committee'.

Didn't ABP report a 70 km elevated road project on part of this stretch?

Mamata Banerjee bags 24 per cent hike in West Bengal funds

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/story/planning-commission-approves-rs-22214-crore-for-west-bengal/1/142429.html

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee received an unprecedented hike of 24 per cent over last year's allocation for the state from the Planning Commission. The Trinamool Congress, the UPA's second largest ally, wanted a Rs 22,214 crore allocation for the state. It was granted, or rather cleared, without a hassle on Wednesday.


West Bengal gets 27% hike from plan panel

http://www.hindustantimes.com/West-Bengal-gets-27-hike-from-plan-panel/Article1-712629.aspx

The Planning Commission on Wednesday hiked the annual plan of the West Bengal government by 27% at a meeting with state chief minister Mamata Banerjee. The annual plan approved for 2011-12 was Rs 22,214 crore. Elated Banerjee announced that with huge allocation her government will try to create empl oyment for 10 lakh people in the next two years and deal with chronic problems of the state.

She also announced that already delegations from Japan, Korea and Thailand had expressed their willingness to invest in West Bengal. In the same vein she announced to turn Darjeeling into Switzerland, Kolkata into London and Sunderbans into African Safari.

Plan panel OK's West Bengal's Rs 22,214-cr outlay

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/plan-panel-oks-wbengals-rs-22-214cr-outlay/807263/

The Planning Commission today approved West Bengal's annual Plan of Rs 22,214 crore for 2011-12, up from Rs 17,985 crore in the previous fiscal.

This is an increase of over 23 per cent in the annual plan allocation for the state, which last month saw change of guards after 34 years of uninterrupted Left rule.

Centre’s gift to Mamata, hikes West Bengal annual plan by 23 percent

http://post.jagran.com/centre-ups-wb-annual-plan-by-23-percent-1308803518

Opening the doors of treasury for the newly appointed Mamata government in West Bengal, Central government on Wednesday approved state’s annual plan of Rs 22,214 crore for 2011-12, which is at least 23 percent up from Rs 17,985 crore in the last fiscal.

Observers hailed the move as a landmark decision as this will be the first time in the history of the West Bengal that the state has received such huge funds from the Centre.


the % hike isn't "unprecedented" as claimed by India Today. Another newspaper claimed that this was a "gift" to Mamata. The fact is this is no gift. It was a proper demand by the new government. Why portray this as a "gift" to the state? Also every year plan amount increases. So every year will be first time in history.

From last year

West Bengal annual plan hiked by 28 percent to Rs.17,985 crore

http://www.prokerala.com/news/articles/a126997.html

The Planning Commission Thursday fixed the annual plan of West Bengal for 2010-11 at Rs.17,985 crore -- 28 percent more than last year.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee met members of the commission and its deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia here to finalise the plan.

"Agriculture, small and medium scale enterprises, clusters of industries, education, health are the major priority areas. We thank the commission for accepting the final plan expenditure for our state," Bhattacharjee said.

Added Ahluwalia: “They have responded on a number of issues and we are quite satisfied with the efforts being made. We would see more impetus for development in all the critical areas."

@Sumanb, dont worry in next five years there will be very little investment in manufacturing sector. No sensible investor will put his money in that place now. But there may be some investment in service sector. Techies should relocate by hundreds to other parts if India. Long live Bengal's self destructive politics!

^^Did you expect IT or service sector folks to not relocate to other parts of the country under the new govt? If the tech sector in the country grows , Kolkata will grow at its usual snail like but steady pace. We had several posts in some other forum I think underlying why the trend will continue , so there is no question of playing "Catch Up" . And one cannot catch up even if one sets up 100s of clusters for SMEs.

Becoming one of the top three IT states by 2015 is a pipedream for this govt (as it was for the previous one) The targets should be more reasonable like for example 3 lakh IT jobs by 2020.

^^ Kolkata will grow at its usual snail like but steady pace. .

I think the growth is high but the base is small.

Anyway it is good to see that the new government is also focussing on IT. Niljee posted (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=80266834&postcount=223) an article in the Nabadiganta thread, which mentions the setting up of a new panel for IT.

i see hope in the IT sector of the state, but what about the manufacturing sctors that usually require huge land ?
i am very confused about the manufacturing sector of the state, and that reduces my chances to come and work in my own state.

"A hero can save us"-Nickelback.

If land acquision is a big problem in or state,then i see hope in developing the R&D,IT industries only.

FIRTE CHAI... :((

Mamata Banerjee bags 24 per cent hike in West Bengal funds



Some Journalists have forgotton basic maths or simply careless. Exact increase in allocation is 23.51 percent.

If Mamta can show substantial increase in resource mobilisation by improved Tax collection and prevention of leakage and wastage, Budget allocation by Centre can leap forward in the years to come.

Some Journalists have forgotton basic maths or simply careless. Exact increase in allocation is 23.51 percent.


Maybe many of the journalists and editorial boards assume that a majority of readers are stupid or uninterested and the readers will know more about vital stats of a bollywood babe than that of the country.

I think the growth is high but the base is small.

Anyway it is good to see that the new government is also focussing on IT. Niljee posted (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=80266834&postcount=223) an article in the Nabadiganta thread, which mentions the setting up of a new panel for IT.

^^@Sun, I am not sure how much these committees will help in speedy implementation of anything.

By now they should have come up with a land bank for future growth of IT industry. Has it been done ?? We are hearing of so called 150 empty plots in Sector V lying idle for long. Is there a plan to integrate some of them and build new land parcels. Is there a plan to expand Sector V as such ??The IT association has repeatedly provided plans for improvement of Sector V but nothing that would make a difference has been done so far.

^^@Sun, I am not sure how much these committees will help in speedy implementation of anything.

By now they should have come up with a land bank for future growth of IT industry. Has it been done ?? We are hearing of so called 150 empty plots in Sector V lying idle for long. Is there a plan to integrate some of them and build new land parcels. Is there a plan to expand Sector V as such ??The IT association has repeatedly provided plans for improvement of Sector V but nothing that would make a difference has been done so far.

Well the committees and panels filled with "experts" and "intellectuals" will decide and give their reports to Mamata. She will decide the next steps after going through the reports.

We will have to wait and see what Mahanetri decides.

In a way West Bengal now effectively has "single window" clearance (or non clearance). Everything will be decided by a single person.

Land issues

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/land-issues-leave-trinamool-infix/440446/

Land struggle — a Pandora’s box the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) opened while in the Opposition — has landed the party in a fix, with TMC now on the ruling side.

After the state assembly passed the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Bill, 2011, last week, there are demands from unwilling farmers for returning their land, acquired in projects such as Burdwan health city, Siliguri satellite township and the NTPC power plant at Katwa. Kick-started by the TMC, the land agitations at these sites are taking a new turn now.

Soon after the Bill was passed in the assembly, agitators stalled work at Burdwan health city site, causing trouble for the authority. The health city is being developed in a public-private partnership by the Burdwan Development Authority and the Bengal Faith Health Care (BFHC), a special purpose vehicle promoted by CES Infratech and Faith Health Care, a CES group company.

“On May 14, about 300-400 people rushed to our project site and stopped work completely. Some 70-80 farmers were unwilling to give their land and, reportedly, they even rejected the cheques, but no major agitation had happened till the government’s decision. Now, we have been thrown out of the site. Even the outpatient unit, operational with four specialist doctors, is not being allowed to work,” said a BFHC official. The company was planning to start full operations from October this year. However, the plans seem to have been derailed by “Banerjee’s Singur Bill”.

According to reports, about 84 farmers had turned down cheques issued in exchange for 23 acres of the land acquired in 2005 for the project in Goda. For the Rs 1,200-crore project, 57 acres of land was acquired from more than 350 owners and BFHC has already invested Rs 50 crore. The TMC, which went on a damage-control mode, sent Rabiranjan Chatterjee, technical education minister, to the site to speak to the unwilling farmers.

“He came up with some suggestions, including returning the land and demanding more compensation. In the wake of all this, only time can prove what will happen to the project,” the official said.

All is also not well at the proposed satellite township in the Kawakhali-Porajhar area in Siliguri, where acquisition of 320 acres of land started in 2004. The protests were spearheaded by Congress leader and member of parliament from Raniganj, along with the TMC and the Revolutionary Socialist Party.

“We have given compensation and allotted 800-odd plots to those losing their land. There were some people who were unwilling to part with their land and are protesting to have it back. The matter is with the court now,” said D K Roy, assistant town planner of Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority, which is planning the project.

Meanwhile, TMC itself was planning a Singur re-run at the Katwa power plant site, where top leaders like Saugata Ray, Purnendu Bose and Sovan Chatterjee paid a visit. The unwillingness to acquire land from those unwilling to sell seems to be a hindrance for this Rs 9,600-crore project for a 1,600-mega watt NTPC plant. The public sector undertaking had taken over the Katwa project from the West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd, which had acquired 387 of the 1,035 acres required for the project last year.

According to sources, Banerjee, who heads the power ministry herself, will not allow acquiring more than 600 acres of land. “There needs to be some openeness from the government for the project to continue,” complained a top NTPC official.

On the other hand, Saugata Ray, a member of parliament who once headed the campaign through the Save Farmland Committee, said, “A lot will depend on the ground situation. People in Katwa never wanted further acquisition of land.”

In Katwa, 1,033 acres of land belong to 4,600 farmers and not many were willing to give their land even for the first phase of the project. Matters have worsened after the Singur Bill.

However, for the TMC, it seems a ghost from the past has started to haunt them now.

Land issues

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/land-issues-leave-trinamool-infix/440446/

Ok, so we are getting ****'ed within a month of the govt coming to power and passing the Singur bill.:ohno: Buddhadeb's repeatedly stating that TMC is just a "hungama party" comes back to haunt us. Till now the LF has kept quiet. Once they start publishing data, matters will get worse.

Mamata earns HPL 350cr-a-year bonus

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110626/jsp/frontpage/story_14162332.jsp

The Mamata Banerjee government has scored a brownie point by getting the Centre to scrap the import duty on naphtha, a move that will help Haldia Petrochemicals and one that the previous Left Front government had been demanding for a long time.

Bengal industries minister Partha Chatterjee had written to the Centre earlier this month seeking removal of the duty, which is expected to save Haldia Petrochemicals (HPL) Rs 350 crore annually.

HPL, Bengal’s largest industrial venture, will be the biggest gainer from the Centre’s decision to eliminate the five per cent import duty on crude oil and petro products including naphtha, the main ingredient for making polymer used in the plastics industry.

^^ what nonsense-"biggest gainer"! World's largest refinery is in Jamnagar and there are many (http://petroleum.nic.in/refinery.pdf) refineries bigger than Haldia in the country! These reporters should be sued :bash:

^^ what nonsense-"biggest gainer"! World's largest refinery is in Jamnagar and there are many (http://petroleum.nic.in/refinery.pdf) refineries bigger than Haldia in the country! These reporters should be sued :bash:

Since nothing much is happening yet (other than announcements; things will probably start happening after some time as the new govt settles down), a section of the media is trying to dig out brownie points for Mamata to generate a "feel good" environment.

In their logic if the UPA Govt raises diesel prices, then it is not Mamata's responsibilty although she is in UPA. But if the UPA Govt cuts import duty, then it is either a "reward" for Mamata or Mamata is "lobbying it successfully" from the UPA.

Did you read the one article where it said the "first time in the history of the West Bengal that the state has received such huge funds from Centre"? Arey baba every year the amount of funds goes up substantially and thus every year it is first time in history.

:lol:

Give Mamata credit for things that she has really done - like remove VAT from cooking gas, introduce Duronto trains, extended Metro to Garia.

Some questions answered by ex Industry minister Nirupam Sen. It gives some information about choice of Singur for the now abandoned Nano project. Excerpts:

Q&A: Nirupam Sen, Former commerce and industry minister, WB

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/qa-nirupam-sen-former-commerceindustry-minister-wb/440447/

How did your government bag the Nano project?
It was an extremely difficult job. Automobile, I figured, was one sector which was growing in India. Almost all large automobile companies had set up units here, while domestic players were trying to expand. Moreover, the sector has a cascading impact on the overall industrialization process.

The single automobile factory in Bengal was dying. So, 2004 onwards, I started negotiating with the Tatas. Mr (Ratan) Tata was interested in doing something in the eastern region, but wasn’t sure of the project. When Nano came on the radar and I mooted the idea, he said we could think about it and suggested having an inspection of the sites.

From the second half of 2005, we started looking for land and zeroed in on Kharagpur. However, when the Uttarakhand facility came up as an option for them later, the price difference came out to be substantial due to the incentives provided by the government of India.

I think, it was just before the 2006 assembly elections, probably in February/March, that I went to Mumbai to meet Mr Ravi Kant. He explained the price difference was the deciding factor, given the nature of the project. I took a risk at that point and told him we would compensate. Whatever the criticism, had the project actually happened, it would have changed the complexion of Singur and its surrounds. Mother plant apart, the project involved 54 ancillary units, which meant enormous employment potential. People would have had the experience of seeing a modern industry.

Who selected Singur?

We showed Tata Motors six plots and they zeroed in on Singur. Actually, the land acquired for Telcon at Kharagpur was meant for Tata Motors. They had planned to set up a township there and, hence, the land requirement was higher. But, then the location shifted to Singur. With no need to set up a township here, the quantum of land was reduced. It also benefited the company economically.

The location was changed as Mr (Ratan) Tata wanted to set up a world class factory that would help bring other investments to the state. I did not oppose. A major criterion was proximity to the National Highway, one of the reasons why they selected Singur. Also, it was just 30 minutes from the central business district. I had not anticipated the Opposition would take the agitation to a level that the company would have to pull out the project. I thought it could be resolved through negotiation, which, of course, was a mistake.

At any time, did your government consider returning land to the unwilling farmers?

No, the question did not arise. The government had acquired the land for industrialisation. The character of the land had also changed. Our purpose was to set up industry.

The Bill states that vendors had not signed lease agreements with the government. Why didn’t they?

Actually, there was a case in the court at that time and, hence, they took permissible possession. To an extent, it was also due to the uncertainties surrounding the agitation. But, they had all paid the premium.

Singur: Notice inviting land applications from unwilling owners issued

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/singur-notice-inviting-land-applications-from-unwilling-owners-issued-114881

The West Bengal government today set the process of formal handover of land to unwilling farmers in Singur in motion by issuing a notice inviting applications for alternative plots of land.

Hooghly DM Sripriya Rangarajan issued the notice which asked unwilling land-owners, whose names featured in the schedule prepared by the government in accordance with the Singur Land and Rehabilitation and Development Act, 2011, to apply for alternative plots of equal quantum owned by them inside the project area.

Forms are being distributed at the Singur BDO office by employees of the Block Land Registration Office, the DM said.

CII President B Muthuraman's view point on land acquisition for industries

http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/corporate-confidence-quite-low-says-cii-president_559576.html

Q: On that point about land acquisition, I just wanted a sense of how CII has read the news that is emanating from West Bengal. The kind of bill that was introduced for Singur and the fact that now Tata Motors has to go into litigation to find some kind of redressal, are you in conversation with the centre for finding another path out of this entire issue?

A: I will touch upon the larger issue of land acquisitions. The Land Acquisition Act of India of 1894 is more than 100 years old. When you go around the world you see most countries there is a clearly defined land acquisition process.

We are discussing that subject with the government. In fact, the Planning Commission has formed steering group to improve manufacturing competitors of India in which there is a working group on land and water and I am the chairman. We are discussing measured to ease land acquisition process. For example, lands have to be earmarked in advance, digitized, perfect records, and zone lands. Industries cannot come up in any kind of place, so you need appropriate locations for appropriate industries.

The first steps should be taken well 10-15-25-50 years in advance of the actual industries coming up. One requires identifying areas for land acquisitions, and then making sure that land owners are compensated properly. Not only compensated for the current market value, but also for the appreciation of land value over time as industries progress, economy prospers and so on.

We need to make sure people occupying those lands today are trained and skills are developed. They are paid part and parcel of the growth process. We are discussing on these subjects and hope that land acquisition bill gets tabled in the parliament shortly, containing some of the recommendations we are making.

I also believe that large tracts of land for industry must be procured by the government or a land corporation. This could be a body between the government and the private as a public private partnership. India is a country of small land holdings and if you want to set up an industrial park of 10,000 acres in which a large number of associated industries can come up, companies can share logistics. We need to reduce the cost of logistics and transactions. Many of these can be helped by clustering industries. And, in such a cluster of industries you cannot have individual companies buying small pieces of land; it becomes very difficult because there are thousands of land owners.

I think six months to one year from now it will be clear that current govt. doesn’t care for industry or employment of educated urban elite. No matter how generous the investor is some pretext will be developed to discourage his efforts. Perhaps babus want to live in stone age for ever!
Is that the way our beloved Bengal is heading now?

:yes:

I think six months to one year from now it will be clear that current govt. doesn’t care for industry or employment of educated urban elite. No matter how generous the investor is some pretext will be developed to discourage his efforts. Perhaps babus want to live in stone age for ever!
Is that the way our beloved Bengal is heading now?

But the new Govt didn't come to power by promising industry or private employment. They are doing exactly what they promised like returning land etc. The Govt or rather MB favours IT and tourism and expect some action on that part. Rest it will be the repeat of first few years of LF regime.

I think six months to one year from now it will be clear that current govt. doesn’t care for industry or employment of educated urban elite.

Did u jump to such conclusion based on astrology, palmistry, face reading, tarrot card, or what? Or did u happen to meet a fortune teller?

And which WB government in the past did a lot about the urban elite? So why are u so shocked?? The political scenario in the State is not dominated by the urban elite.. and this is something that Mamata Banerjee has learnt the hard way! She was once called the leader of the rich and the urban elite class! Now that she has connected well to both the urban sector and the rural sector is a blessing for the State. Give her sometime.. She promises to turn Kolkata into London.. Let her work as per her vision.. And I am sure, u will find a lot more urban cities in the State in the next five years.. BTW, can u name a few urban cities in the State that have been developed under the LF? WB has suffered a lot under the Left Front rule.. Here is a new government that is focused.. the new government is keeping their promises.. return of land was a big promise and it needs to be done.. If the TATAs are keep the land, let them fight it out in the Court.. what's wrong with that? Industrialisation will happen.. we have visionaries like Mamata Banerjee and Amit Mitra in the government and there is no reason to rush to an astrologer to predict the future of West Bengal..

So far I think it's too early to evaluate the MB government. But if they do seriously want to develop smaller town Bengal, they need to create the amenities that would make them attractive.

I second that.. :cheers:

Techies should relocate by hundreds to other parts if India.

Large number of techies have already relocated to places like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Gurgaon, Ahmedabad, Pune, Bhubaneshwar under the LF rule.. what is it that u suddenly find different, and advise the techies to relocate out of Bengal??

But the new Govt didn't come to power by promising industry or private employment. They are doing exactly what they promised like returning land etc. The Govt or rather MB favours IT and tourism and expect some action on that part. Rest it will be the repeat of first few years of LF regime.

@Sumanb, you are right . Under current political scenario urban elite will be the biggest loser. They don’t vote en mass, they don’t sponsor personality cult and they don’t have much attachment for mati ( soil ). They could be trashed by ruling elite. But is it possible to side track educated class like that? I know democracy is a number game, May be a great political chase game is on the way and we have to wait!!

Large number of techies have already relocated to places like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Gurgaon, Ahmedabad, Pune, Bhubaneshwar under the LF rule.. what is it that u suddenly find different, and advise the techies to relocate out of Bengal??

I was talking about next generation techies who would be in job market five years from now !

Did u jump to such conclusion based on astrology, palmistry, face reading, tarrot card, or what? Or did u happen to meet a fortune teller?

And which WB government in the past did a lot about the urban elite? So why are u so shocked?? The political scenario in the State is not dominated by the urban elite.. and this is something that Mamata Banerjee has learnt the hard way! She was once called the leader of the rich and the urban elite class! Now that she has connected well to both the urban sector and the rural sector is a blessing for the State. Give her sometime.. She promises to turn Kolkata into London.. Let her work as per her vision.. And I am sure, u will find a lot more urban cities in the State in the next five years.. BTW, can u name a few urban cities in the State that have been developed under the LF? WB has suffered a lot under the Left Front rule.. Here is a new government that is focused.. the new government is keeping their promises.. return of land was a big promise and it needs to be done.. If the TATAs are keep the land, let them fight it out in the Court.. what's wrong with that? Industrialisation will happen.. we have visionaries like Mamata Banerjee and Amit Mitra in the government and there is no reason to rush to an astrologer to predict the future of West Bengal..


I second this completely. Whenever Singur story comes up, some CPM supporters behave as if that single investment would have taken Bengal to a different league. Tata will try to create a hue and cry that this will affect industrialization of Bengal. Let us give Mamata and his team time for a year or two at least and see how they perform. We have had already enough of Singur, lets look beyond that.

As far as urban elites are concerned, LF govt didnot do much apart from bringing some call centres and some poor paying Indian MNCs in Bengal . Nothing was done in sectors like private equity , alternate energy, Financial front office ( investment banking jobs), LPO, Bio-tech, VLSI, Nanotechnology, aerospace. Even Debesh could not even convince the silicon-valley R&D companies , who have their offices in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Gurgaon to open a centre in Kolkata.

She promises to turn Kolkata into London..

I would have been more optimistic if she had said she would make the place more livable.

I second this completely. Whenever Singur story comes up, some CPM supporters behave as if that single investment would have taken Bengal to a different league. Tata will try to create a hue and cry that this will affect industrialization of Bengal. Let us give Mamata and his team time for a year or two at least and see how they perform. We have had already enough of Singur, lets look beyond that.

As far as urban elites are concerned, LF govt didnot do much apart from bringing some call centres and some poor paying Indian MNCs in Bengal . Nothing was done in sectors like private equity , alternate energy, Financial front office ( investment banking jobs), LPO, Bio-tech, VLSI, Nanotechnology, aerospace. Even Debesh could not even convince the silicon-valley R&D companies , who have their offices in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Gurgaon to open a centre in Kolkata.

^^IBM, CG, Pwc & Cognizant are poor paying ? ;) Debesh and team were in the news for a few years till the Singur episode, after which he literally disappeared from the scene. In IT, West Bengal needs both mass employment and specialized ones, so if Aegis is bullish on Bengal it is fine.

Is that the way our beloved Bengal is heading now?

Koi Shak.....???

They are just the other side of the same coin!!!

The political scenario in the State is not dominated by the urban elite.. and this is something that Mamata Banerjee has learnt the hard way! She was once called the leader of the rich and the urban elite class! Now that she has connected well to both the urban sector and the rural sector is a blessing for the State.

Are you sure it is a blessing for the state? It seems to be a repeat of the pre 2005 Left Front zamana. But let's see.

Give her sometime.. She promises to turn Kolkata into London.. Let her work as per her vision..

It's an absurd promise for now, but it is good to set high standards. I am hoping SSC India will continue to go strong and we will see regular updates.

But I am happy with the plans that have been announced for the river banks, BBD Bag, Curzon Park, Airport Highway and so on.

But remember that she didn't let others work as per their "vision". Why are you expecting now that people will not be critical of the flaws in her vision?

And I am sure, u will find a lot more urban cities in the State in the next five years..

If the new land policy is implemented without modifications and exemptions, then there willl be no new urban cities in the state in next five years. At best maybe a few rural areas around the urban centres will become semi urban. That is a natural process.

BTW, can u name a few urban cities in the State that have been developed under the LF?

Building new urban cities is not an easy task. So if you study the pattern of new city development in India, they are either industrial townships of big industrial units or extensions of existing cities. In India amongst the big cities Chandigarh is an example that has been just built kind of in the middle of nowhere and is thriving today. Gandhinagar is near Ahmedabad, Navi Mumbai next to Mumbai, new areas of Bhopal and Bhubaneswar are next to existing old cities, the cities around New Delhi etc. Many of the industrial townships have become cities but some say that they lack the vibrancy of places like Vizag, Coimbatore, Cochin.

In West Bengal we have New Town, a large new city under development in India (now cut short by Mamata's vote bank vision).

Within limited means the state has also continued to develop Salt Lake (Though a brainchild of Bidhan Roy, it was almost empty in 1970s), East Calcutta Township, Baishnab Ghata Patuli Township, Golf Green, Sarsuna Township to name a few in Kolkata area. Obviously these are not the best in terms of planning and amenities. They have tried doing the West Calcutta Township in Howrah (India's first FDI township) but it has not gone well at all till now. Calcutta Riverside and Eden City are smaller townships. Dankuni Township was dropped because of opposition from Trinamool.

New townships are also under development in Durgapur, Burdwan, Asansol. In Siliguri there has been opposition by Trinamool to development of new townships but one township has come up partially. Haldia has seen development too. There has been opposition by Trinamool supported intellectuals to planned development in Shantiniketan area.

Under the new regime, all they have to do is continue to push for planned new extensions of urban centres like Siliguri-Jalpaiguri, Asansol-Durgapur, Kharagpur-Midnapore, Shantiniketan, Bakreshwar-Siuri, Baharmpur, Malda-English Bazar, Haldia.

I hope the new government has such a vision and implements it.

WB has suffered a lot under the Left Front rule..

Yes, it has suffered a lot under Left Rule, Congress Rule and also Trinamool Opposition.

Here is a new government that is focused.. the new government is keeping their promises.. return of land was a big promise and it needs to be done..

People are always focused on passing exams. Many pass and many don't. We will have to wait and see. Till now it has mostly been announcement of Gorkhaland agreement which no one knows is workable or not, lots of committees, panels and white papers. Too early to come to any positive conclusion about the new government. But already see several negatives like rushing to do things with no homework and plain big egos. The fact that every decision will be taken by Mamata has its positives and negatives.

If the TATAs are keep the land, let them fight it out in the Court.. what's wrong with that?

Here's a question. Why didn't Mamata and Co also wait for the Supreme Court cases to come to a conclusion? Why did they not go through the full legal process when they were in opposition? Why did they incite violence and channelize people to take up law into their hands. Isn't it because big political leaders know that they are usually above the law of the land and no one will dare to touch them because of their political stature?


Industrialisation will happen.. we have visionaries like Mamata Banerjee and Amit Mitra in the government ..

I can agree that Mamata has some vision (she wants to rule the state). About lobbyist turned politician Amit Mitra, the track record in this field is blank. So too early to comment.

Industrialization has been happening earlier too. Now that the obstructionists are in power and the agitators are defeated, it may gain some pace (hopefully). If all the industrial projects like Salboni, Raghunathpur, Panagarh, BAPL started under the previous regime are allowed to be completed without hindrance, the state will definitely make progress.

^^IBM, CG, Pwc & Cognizant are poor paying ? ;) Debesh and team were in the news for a few years till the Singur episode, after which he literally disappeared from the scene. In IT, West Bengal needs both mass employment and specialized ones, so if Aegis is bullish on Bengal it is fine.

Yeah. Some forumers here have often criticized Debesh Das here earlier. Fact is that after the Singur agitation, investors were afraid to step into West Bengal once more. It is natural that the Singur trouble making leaders (and their non farmer supporters) who have now come in power. would want people to forget about the trouble they created and simply "look forward". That is just part of politics I guess.

I would have been more optimistic if she had said she would make the place more livable.

That wouldn't create sycophancy filled headlines.

:lol:

^^IBM, CG, Pwc & Cognizant are poor paying ? ;) Debesh and team were in the news for a few years till the Singur episode, after which he literally disappeared from the scene. In IT, West Bengal needs both mass employment and specialized ones, so if Aegis is bullish on Bengal it is fine.
Arijeet, if your benchmark is TCS, Tech Mahindra, Wipro Infotech, Wipro Technologies etc then yes IBM, CG, Pwc & Cognizant are good payers but obviously if you compare these 4 companies with Cisco, EMC2, HP, Oracle, Google , Microsoft, VMware, Netapp, Juniper Networks, LSI Logic, Facebook, Zynga etc , then IBM, CG, Pwc & Cognizant are not only bad payers but pathetic payers. Forget about stock options, they dont offer nice pay also to the employees also ( except perhaps in very senior positions).

But yes we need a few mass employers also.
What I meant was except bringing some mass employers, LF did not do much for the urban elites. I had mentioned a whole bunch of sectors in my post.

In West Bengal we have New Town, a large new city under development in India (now cut short by Mamata's vote bank vision).

Dankuni Township was dropped because of opposition from Trinamool.

New townships are also under development in Durgapur, Burdwan, Asansol.



I hope if LF was willing to pay the right price for land, the land agitation price would have lost steam by its own.

Now...about the land acquisition trouble I will cite another example. DLF wanted to develop a 5000 acre township near Dankuni and they were ready to pay Rs 54 Lac / acre. Govt wanted to acquire the land at Rs. 9 lac / acre from the farmers and develop it and then hand it over to the farmers. The farmers were not ready at such a low price. DLF became frustrated and wanted to pay Rs. 40 Lac/ acre for the agricultural land and then develop it on their own. But the Govt would not allow direct purchase from the farmers at such a high price.

WHY?

Because if the farmers become rich, it will be very difficult to keep them under "party" clutches. At the end of the day, " party " needs to control the farmers...right?

On the contrary, in Bangalore the farmers got Rs. 65 lac / acre from the Govt for development of 309 acre Hardware & aerospace SEZ near the new international airport.

Arijeet, if your benchmark is TCS, Tech Mahindra, Wipro Infotech, Wipro Technologies etc then yes IBM, CG, Pwc & Cognizant are good payers but obviously if you compare these 4 companies with Cisco, EMC2, HP, Oracle, Google , Microsoft, VMware, Netapp, Juniper Networks, LSI Logic, Facebook, Zynga etc , then IBM, CG, Pwc & Cognizant are not only bad payers but pathetic payers. Forget about stock options, they dont offer nice pay also to the employees also ( except perhaps in very senior positions).

But yes we need a few mass employers also.
What I meant was except bringing some mass employers, LF did not do much for the urban elites. I had mentioned a whole bunch of sectors in my post.

^^Pay for mid-senior level positions depend a lot on the individual bargaining power of the prospective employee. In the past, I have seen wonders happen in a traditional IT company like Wipro Tech which would 'bend the rules' and offer the moon to recruit employees with key/specialized skills. But in general the Indian ones pay low since they start low but you have caveats like LT Onsite opps which kind of makes up for your lack of pay in India. At the end it depends on what you want. Amongst MNCs the smaller ones you mention pay the most, but also have lesser job security compared to IBM, HP, Accenture etc. Again it depends on what you want.

True, there is a lot more the LF could have done over the past 10 years to really develop the IT sector. If they did nothing then you and me would not be having this discussion and this sub-forum would not exist. Under Buddha, they brought in Wipro, provided approvals to Unitechs/DLFs to setup IT SEZs and create an environment for expansion of IBM, TCS, CTS etc all the while facing resistence within and competition from the established IT cities. We need to closely watch how the new state govt promotes the sector.

I hope if LF was willing to pay the right price for land, the land agitation price would have lost steam by its own.

The WB Govt paid 8 to 12 lakhs per acre. It was above the market price at that time. There could of course have been a better deal with more negotiation and the govt was open to it.

The only point the whole agitation turned into was return of 400 acres. And that is what is happening now. No one is even talking of giving higher compensation to the unwilling farmers and negotiating with the Tatas and farmers. Right?

So it was all about the obstinacy of 400 acres.

Now...about the land acquisition trouble I will cite another example. DLF wanted to develop a 5000 acre township near Dankuni and they were ready to pay Rs 54 Lac / acre. Govt wanted to acquire the land at Rs. 9 lac / acre from the farmers and develop it and then hand it over to the farmers. The farmers were not ready at such a low price. DLF became frustrated and wanted to pay Rs. 40 Lac/ acre for the agricultural land and then develop it on their own. But the Govt would not allow direct purchase from the farmers at such a high price.

It has been said that DLF was ready to pay a good price per acre (rs 55 lakh per acre). The government had initially offered - Rs 7 lakh an acre for fallow land, Rs 12 lakh for multi-crop land and Rs 14 lakh for homesteads. However there was always scope for increasing compensation.

I have not seen any news that DLF was ready to negotiate with the farmers directly and purchase land directly from them. The farmers may have been ready. But is DLF ready to acquire 4500 acres on its own? if you have any such news please do post it. In that case it would be wonderful if DLF can come back and negotiating directly with the farmers




WHY?

Because if the farmers become rich, it will be very difficult to keep them under "party" clutches. At the end of the day, " party " needs to control the farmers...right?

simplistic explanation. The farmers anyway didn't vote for them. So the clutch theory doesn't work.

LF did land reforms and so the average handholding in WB is very less. So, whatever is the compensation the money the farmers get would not be that large sum of money that they can comfortably sale it. Plus their primary skillset is farming and they didn't see much development to happen anyway around them to venture into other trade. So typically the farmers, specially the small one are 'unwilling' to part with their land. So, its not only about compensation but to do with their security as well. But to address that if you 'ring faced' land acquisition, the situation will worsen the more for the farmers (as farming income will not keep pace with cost of living) and non farmers (fewer opportunity due to less number of projects). The MB Govt and media are simplistically projecting that 'non acquisition' of land is the victory of the farmers but in reality its the slow but inevitable decline of their relative income.

Thinking of some "pro Trinamool" economists - It gives a peep into what the pro Trinamool intellectuals/economists are thinking and how they have shaped and may shape Mamata's policies:

http://news.in.msn.com/business/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5238327

Leading economist Abhirup Sarkar sounded happy. 'What we are seeing now is something historic. This has not happened anywhere in India earlier. So long land has only been taken from farmers. But this is the first time that the process has been reversed.

'Mamata Banerjee's successful agitation in Singur has changed the way land was acquired so far. The landowners are now much more conscious of their rights. Her decision to return land will also have historic ramifications,' the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) professor told IANS.

Coupled with the draft land use policy which decrees that henceforth private entrepreneurs will have to buy land on their own with the government virtually playing no role, Banerjee is now being hailed for her pro-farmer stance, only a month into office.

But for a state with a 92 million population - the fourth most populated state in the country - and high on unemployment with about 6.4 million people registered in the employment exchanges as per last year's data, can such moves be called good economics apart from good politics?

Sarkar sees no such conflict. 'Poor people have been tortured so long in the name of industrialisation. Priority has to be given on employment generation. That's fine. But why should the government use its own resources to get land for the industrialists?

'An entrepreneur buys raw material from the market, he raises capital from the market, then what is so special about land?'

Fellow economist Dipankar Dasgupta concedes the land issue could cause problems, but says industry has to find its solution.

'For setting up a big project an industrialist may have to deal with a very large number of landowners. That can create problems. But industry will have to solve that for itself.'

As for job generation, Dasgupta feels unlike the earlier Left Front regime, the incumbent Trinamool Congress-Congress government would not focus on big industries now.

'I think they are trying to attract small and medium enterprises, like agro-based industries. Tourism seems to be another thrust area where small entrepreneurs can pump in small amounts,' Dasgupta, who also teaches at the ISI, told IANS.

'They would try to build the much-needed infrastructure like roads, which itself would ensure employment in the short term. Then they need to improve drinking water facilities and set up primary schools and hospitals.

'In the prevailing condition, big industries will not come to districts like Purulia and Bankura which are agriculturally backward. If they can put in place a better infrastructure over the next two-three years, then there is a possibility of big industries feeling attracted.'


Have industry only if farmers wish

Sugato Marjit

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-06-23/kolkata/29693770_1_land-acquisition-land-reforms-land-policy

Old habits die hard. Since the beginning of the Nandigram and Singur movements, the Trinamool Congress chief had argued time and again with a lot of conviction that the government must not interfere in land transactions for industrialisation. So much so that the new land acquisition bill to be tabled in the parliament needed serious amendments. Small peasants all across India think of her as a saviour who does not relent to forestall the tyranny of politics and capital. The recently announced land policy of the West Bengal government bears the mark of her promise and conviction. One who has actively framed the policy is a well-known bureaucrat involved with the initial designing of the land reforms and knows exactly the pros and cons of the decision. We have discussed the issue in the past, seen what interference can do and have witnessed the plight of small farmers in Bengal and in other states. Yet, we sing the same tune and dig out same concerns. Let me try to answer the reservations one by one.

Try to respect the principle. If peasants do not wish, we shall not have large-scale industry. Public investment in infrastructure is a completely separate issue and the bill definitely accommodates that possibility. But we must not interpret private intention as public welfare and then try to justify forcible eviction. Small and medium industries are not likely to have problems as they do not require so much land as the large industry does. On June 17, TOI had reported formation of a private cooperative of farmers in Bankura and it has huge amount of land to offer to the private sector. Encourage formation of such private cooperatives among small peasants. They are smart enough to understand their problems. Let us not teach them what to do with their land.

As if the sole problem of industrialisation in the state has to do with land acquisition. This is not true. Infrastructure of various sorts needs attention. Quality of performance of infrastructure does not necessarily require space. Vertical structures require much less land. Industrialists will face constraints as we all do. It is not a question of industrialisation at the cost of the poor farmers.

Those industrialists who feel that the government has to act as a middleman should not be welcome here.

read on (http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-06-23/kolkata/29693770_1_land-acquisition-land-reforms-land-policy)

Good to know that at least some of the experts concede that immediately it's presposterous to call for industeis in Purulia, Bankura without the proper infrastrucre.

I second this completely. Whenever Singur story comes up, some CPM supporters behave as if that single investment would have taken Bengal to a different league. Tata will try to create a hue and cry that this will affect industrialization of Bengal. Let us give Mamata and his team time for a year or two at least and see how they perform. We have had already enough of Singur, lets look beyond that.

As far as urban elites are concerned, LF govt didnot do much apart from bringing some call centres and some poor paying Indian MNCs in Bengal . Nothing was done in sectors like private equity , alternate energy, Financial front office ( investment banking jobs), LPO, Bio-tech, VLSI, Nanotechnology, aerospace. Even Debesh could not even convince the silicon-valley R&D companies , who have their offices in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Gurgaon to open a centre in Kolkata.

There are no CPM, BJP or TMC supporters in this forum. We all are supporters of golden Bengal. We don’t want to see Bengal sliding down to stone age. It still has good potentials.
This single Tata Nano project was scuttled by a process of political revenge. You perhaps don’t know what a negative impression it had created about Bengal in international media. Entire US press and investor community( NRI ) here don’t want to think about Bengal any more. They say let Bengal join up with Bangladesh or live in stone age. It is sad to see indifference of urban elite of Kolkata about industrialization of Bengal. Five / ten years from now when Bengal will be in same level with Assam/Nagaland ( industrially ) , people will conclude Singur episode was the second most destructive event in Bengal after Gherao movement of seventies introduced by JB.
Babus do you want to live in a civilized prosporous world or not? Wealth generation is not a crime in the west!

Birla Corp to expand cement, power capacity

MP Birla Group flagship Birla Corporation is planning to invest around Rs 1,025 crore over the next one-and-a-half years for expanding cement and power capacity, Harsh V Lodha, chairman of the company said here on Monday.
“Currently wehave a capacity of producing 7.5 million tonne (mt) of cement. After capacity expansion, itisexpectedtotouch 9.3 mt by March 2012,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the 91st annual general meeting of the company.
He said progress of work on the 1.2 mt brownfield project for increase of capacity at Chanderia and 0.6 mt capacity addition at Durgapur is satisfactory and the projects are likely to be commissioned by November-December 2011. The expansion projects relating to replacementof old cement ball mills, one at Satna and the other at Chanderia, for increasing the cement grinding capacity andensuring power saving are also on the track.
“With a view to optimize on the logistic costs, plans are on to install a grinding cum packing plant with a capacity of 7.5 lakh tonne per annum at Kota, Rajasthan. At Raebarelli cement works the cement capacity is being expanded from 6.3 lakh tonne per annum to8lakhtonne,” he said.
Whiletalking aboutoutlook of cement sector, he said the sector has witnessed massive capacity additions of over 100 mt in last three years, which has resultedin significant pressure on price realization and alsoon capacity utilization during 2010. In last fiscal (2010-11) the demand in the market grew at 5%. TNN

Now, Bengal on Mitsubishi radar

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata-/Now-Bengal-on-Mitsubishi-radar/articleshow/9032270.cms

Close on the heels of her industry summit, chief minister Mamata Banerjee has received a proposal for more investment from Mitsubishi Chemicals Holding Corporation (MCHC).

This is the first real breakthrough in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) for the Ma-Mati-Manush government. MCHC president and CEO Yoshimitsu Kobayashi has written to Mamata, saying his company wants to invest more in Bengal. In his letter, Kobayashi wrote that the group has been in Haldia since 1997 and invested $800 million. The company now wants to expand in Bengal in keeping with the state's bid for industrial revival.

The proposal is just what Team Mamata needs as the Japanese conglomerate already has land at Haldia at its disposal. Thus, an investment proposal, that too FDI sans land acquisition, would be music to Mamata's ears.

Mitsubishi officials met finance minister Amit Mitra last week to talk about the possibilities.

A company source said, "While new proposals will take time to crystallize, for the moment we have held discussions with the government that our Haldia plant would have enough material for downstream growth. The possibility will emerge soon after the second plant is operational by December 2011. So there is scope for investment from products like PET resins, PET fibres and PET films."

The company has about 350 acres ready at hand to match its further investment plans. Of course, the government has also been told that the recent extension has already cost Mitshubishi about Rs 4,000 crore. The first steps for fruition of further investment plans even after intense talks with the government may take at least six months.

Bata to focus on tier II, III cities, rural markets

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/cons-products/fashion-/-cosmetics-/-jewellery/bata-to-focus-on-tier-ii-iii-cities-rural-markets/articleshow/9026453.cms

Bata India, the leading manufacturers of footwear in India, will focus on tier II, tier III cities and rural markets for its future growth, a top executive said on Tuesday.

"We will focus on tier II and tier III cities and rural markets in the country which will provide growth and volume for our company," Bata India chairman P.M. Sinha told reporters on the sidelines of the 78th Annual General Meeting of the company.

"We will invest Rs.100 crore in West Bengal. Near our factory at Batanagar we will develop new small and medium enterprises (SMEs)," the chairman said.

Now, Bengal on Mitsubishi radar

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata-/Now-Bengal-on-Mitsubishi-radar/articleshow/9032270.cms

Since when bengal was not "on Mitsubishi radar"? :tongue3:

Since when bengal was not "on Mitsubishi radar"? :tongue3:

Well I think that this journalist used to write "panic stories" about West Bengal's financial situation before the elections. Now since they are no longer allowed to press the panic button, it is time for "feel good" stories. But it is ok. Also note how the industrial summit is irrelevant to the news article. This company was not there in the industrial summit. And the industrial summit didn't produce anything concrete till now.

:)



Now if this was the Left Front rule, then this is how the news article would have been written:

Chameli Chemicals, flicker of hope in despair

By suncity

Close on the heels of his failed industry summit, which produced no concrete investment proposals, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya has received a proposal for more investment from Chameli Chemicals Holding Corporation based in Timbuktoo.

This is the first real breakthrough in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) for the beleaguered Left Front Government. Chameli Chemicals president and CEO has written to Buddha, saying his company wants to invest more in Bengal.

The proposal is just what Team Buddha needs to add momentum to its failed industrial policy and revive the moribund state of affairs in the showpiece industrial town of Haldia.

Noted economist and expert Sabjanta Sarkar of Misstatistical Institute said that such investments are drop in the ocean and there is nothing to cheer about. Environmentalist and award winning activist author Mao Devi has condemned investments in the chemical industry and she has threatened to lauch an agitation to oppose this project. She has asked the government to concentrate on increasing production of betel leaves as these will help the poor farmers. Opposition Leader Durjon Kumar has said that his party will not allow any polluting chemical industries in Haldia and Nandigram. Painter activist Sarboda Prasanna has said that he always uses natural colours for his paintings and he will start an agitation against use of harmful chemicals by painters sympathetic to the Buddha government.

^^ :lol:

Did you see this Anandabazar news today: http://www.anandabazar.in/29bus2.html

Chameli Chemicals!!

:rofl:

^^ :lol:

Did you see this Anandabazar news today: http://www.anandabazar.in/29bus2.html

Well it is a good step to bring British Airways back to Kolkata. If they can pull it off, it will add to Kolkata airport's stature.

The funnier story I found was the resignation of reputed academic Sukanta Chaudhuri from one of the advisory boards. He is going for research work abroad (which is true) and he cannot be contacted through the internet.

:nuts:

Which country is he going for research where internet is not available? What about phones?

Maybe what they meant was that he wouldn't want to be disturbed during his research.

http://img850.imageshack.us/img850/3669/advisoryresign.jpg (http://img850.imageshack.us/i/advisoryresign.jpg/)

Well it is a good step to bring British Airways back to Kolkata. If they can pull it off, it will add to Kolkata airport's stature.


I am fine with British Airways part. I found it funny on the claim that "suddenly" there is a huge demand for business class/first class tickets..

What what what??? BA coming back to Cal??
So long Frankfurt.

Chameli Chemicals, flicker of hope in despair

By suncity

:rofl:...Chameli Chemicals!!!!

http://www.anandabazar.in/29bus2.html

Hope that BA now restart its direct fli8 between Kol-Lndn!!..:okay:

Chameli Chemicals, flicker of hope in despair

By suncity

:lol:

Chameli Chemicals, flicker of hope in despair

By suncity[/QUOTE]

Great Artilce Sun :hahaha:

The biggest scam in the report is that Mitsubishi has already invested for the expansion during post Singur period and that project will be onstream sometime this year. But if you report so then that becomes contrary to popular emotion now, so a convoluted story where you don't mention the past investment but mention that a big company has come to Bengal because of change of guard.

SC puts stay order on Singur land return. Notice the headline on Indiatimes - 'SC tells Mamata Not to return land to farmers'

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Relief-for-Tatas-SC-tells-Mamata-not-to-return-Singur-land-to-farmers/articleshow/9036177.cms

Well I think that this journalist used to write "panic stories" about West Bengal's financial situation before the elections. Now since they are no longer allowed to press the panic button, it is time for "feel good" stories. But it is ok. Also note how the industrial summit is irrelevant to the news article. This company was not there in the industrial summit. And the industrial summit didn't produce anything concrete till now.

:)



Now if this was the Left Front rule, then this is how the news article would have been written:

Chameli Chemicals, flicker of hope in despair

By suncity

^^Sun, this is simply hilarious !! You may want to think about a career in intelligent and witty journalism as an alternative in case one day you get bored with your present career/job :)

Well I think that this journalist used to write "panic stories" about West Bengal's financial situation before the elections. Now since they are no longer allowed to press the panic button, it is time for "feel good" stories. But it is ok. Also note how the industrial summit is irrelevant to the news article. This company was not there in the industrial summit. And the industrial summit didn't produce anything concrete till now.

:)



Now if this was the Left Front rule, then this is how the news article would have been written:

Chameli Chemicals, flicker of hope in despair

By suncity

:bash:Seriously our HEADMASTER can anytime change his profession and comes to journalism..............:lol:

Well I think that this journalist used to write "panic stories" about West Bengal's financial situation before the elections. Now since they are no longer allowed to press the panic button, it is time for "feel good" stories. But it is ok. Also note how the industrial summit is irrelevant to the news article. This company was not there in the industrial summit. And the industrial summit didn't produce anything concrete till now.

:)



Now if this was the Left Front rule, then this is how the news article would have been written:

Chameli Chemicals, flicker of hope in despair

By suncity


Suncity, it.s interesting but reading your articles I feel sometimes that you should get "sabjanta" title (just kidding).
I am not a great fan of MB but I really wanted the change of guard in Bengal. I feel the rout of communist is due to their dadagiri and scarcity of vision. In our school days when Rajiv Gandhi started computerisation then the LF govt used to show movies in our localities that people are losing jobs due to computerisation. They even did not guess that probably this is the thing that will suit better to Bengalee mentality. After coming to power they lifted english from primary level and they realised this after ten years. Yes. Buddha tried something but he could not get out of their system. A paraller administration was running between govt and CPM local commitee. If Budhha was so sincere why did not he cleanse the system.
During our engineering college days local CPM goons used to start visiting our campus before college polling days and started threatning although they were not at all connected to college affairs. Every where they put their presence. Last year during summer I went WB and the day of my return CITU called Rasta roko. Then on the same issue after some days CPM called a bandh.
I am not saying MB can bring gold to WB but atleast she started looking into basic things. Atleast being in opposition she had not called any bandh for last two years. We should give her some time then only we can judge her performance. Ofcourse being a well wisher of my native state I always pray insustrialisation in Bengal and also having a good opposition without Left so that there should be healthy competition for development.

Suncity, it.s interesting but reading your articles I feel sometimes that you should get "sabjanta" title (just kidding).

Unpaid sabjanta.

:lol:


I am not a great fan of MB but I really wanted the change of guard in Bengal. I feel the rout of communist is due to their dadagiri and scarcity of vision. In our school days when Rajiv Gandhi started computerisation then the LF govt used to show movies in our localities that people are losing jobs due to computerisation. They even did not guess that probably this is the thing that will suit better to Bengalee mentality. After coming to power they lifted english from primary level and they realised this after ten years. Yes. Buddha tried something but he could not get out of their system. A paraller administration was running between govt and CPM local commitee. If Budhha was so sincere why did not he cleanse the system.
During our engineering college days local CPM goons used to start visiting our campus before college polling days and started threatning although they were not at all connected to college affairs. Every where they put their presence. Last year during summer I went WB and the day of my return CITU called Rasta roko. Then on the same issue after some days CPM called a bandh.
I am not saying MB can bring gold to WB but atleast she started looking into basic things. Atleast being in opposition she had not called any bandh for last two years. We should give her some time then only we can judge her performance. Ofcourse being a well wisher of my native state I always pray insustrialisation in Bengal and also having a good opposition without Left so that there should be healthy competition for development.

Change is good. Similarly criticism is good too. Anyway most of my analysis is about the quality of news coverage.

The commie parties have many problems. The tommies already have many problems. There is very little difference between the two. For me both are same old bosta pocha parties. So both are good fun. Especially funny are media efforts to paint the new regime as God's blessing to Bengal.

Suncity, it.s interesting but reading your articles I feel sometimes that you should get "sabjanta" title (just kidding).


Thats not necessary. Even if you are "kidding"..:ohno:

Japan envoy hails ‘positive’ biz clime

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110630/jsp/calcutta/story_14150293.jsp

The investment climate in Bengal is “positive” and Japanese business captains can seriously look at the state as a viable destination soon, feels Mitsuo Kawaguchi, the consul-general of Japan in Calcutta.

“The new chief minister seems very keen on bringing in fresh investment to Bengal,” Kawaguchi told Metro. “Her strong overtures could translate into more Japanese investment flowing into the state.”

“It’s important to spell out the industry policy without ambiguity and provide maximum clarity and information on issues of land, infrastructure and taxation norms,” Kawaguchi, who had a stint as deputy consul-general at the Japanese mission in the city between 2001 and 2004, added.

India a prospective business destination : Kawaguchi

http://news.in.msn.com/business/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5249697

India would be a prospective investment destination for Japan in the coming years, while with the change of government in West Bengal it hoped to contribute significantly in development of the state''s economy.

"According to a survey in Japan, India will be the most prospective investment destination in the next 10 years," Japan''s Consul General in Kolkata Mitsuo Kawaguchi said during an interactive session here today.

Though there were impediments like underdeveloped infrastructure, procedural hazards and logistics, but the gross potential of India''s domestic market would attract Japanese investors to invest directly in Indian companies, Kawaguchi said.

Chemical hub scrapped in new Nayachar plan


TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Kolkata: Universal Success chairman and New Kolkata International Development (NKID) director Prasoon Mukherjee has submitted a revised proposal for Nayachar to industry minister Partha Chatterjee on Friday.
The new project blueprint follows the Mamata Banerjee government-stated stand against setting up a chemical hub in the island.With the political equation now very different from what existed four years ago,when the chemical hub was conceived,Mukherjee knocked on the industries ministers door once again on Friday with a fresh set of proposals that are tailored to the thoughts and ideals of the new government.Hence,the ambitious chemical hub is out and a more modest industrial zone for downstream units and eco tourism destination is in.What remains unchanged though is a supercrticial power plant.
I made it clear a long time ago that we will not do anything against the peoples wishes.Since chemical hub was not welcome,we did not push for it.This led to the earlier state government cancelling all my projects in Bengal.Now that the new government is keen to attract investments,I have submitted a fresh proposal for Nayachar, Mukherjee said after the meeting.However,Mukherjee made it clear that PCPIR plan is still on.The chemical hub was only a part of PCPIR.It needs 40% processing area out of 250 square kilometer.We already have large processing area at Haldia, he added.
After meeting Prasoon Mukherjee,industry minister said,I am telling everyone to let bygones be bygones.Fresh projects are always welcome.The previous government had unceremoniously cancelled the MoU with Mukherjee who had made major investments in several projects.We are willing to make a fresh start.Appreciating the stand,Mukherjee has submitted a fresh proposal that we are considering.
While Universal group plans to invest Rs 8,400 crore in developing infrastructure at the 4,000 acres industrial park and 6,000 acres ecofriendly tourism project,a further Rs 12,000 crore will be pumped into the 2,000 MW power plant to be built in two phases.
We expect all the regulatory clearances to arrive by October so that the ground work on the project can begin in November.The financial closure should happen in November with IDBI leading the consortium of bankers.The initial paid up equity in the project will be Rs 600 crore, Mukherjee said.
Universal Power,the project promoters,has signed a power purchase agreement with West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Co Ltd that leaves the company with only 15% of the generation to sell.The low-ash coal for the three plants of 660 MW each will be shipped into India from Indonesia by Bhumi Resources.
Meanwhile,TIL will soon start work for its state-of-theart earth moving equipment plant near Kharagpur.TIL vice chairman Sumit Mazumdar said that the first phase of the work has already started.Earlier,Partha Chatterjee said that TIL will invest Rs 450 crore and would employ 1,800 people.TIL is also keen to set up an industrial park, he added.

Calcutta, July 2: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has asked NTPC to make do with less than half the land it wants to set up a key power plant, prompting the company to explore the possibility of salvaging the project by scaling it down.

Uncertainty is now looming over the 1,600MW power plant in Burdwan’s Katwa. NTPC needs 1,035 acres for the Rs 9,600-crore project, out of which 485 acres had been acquired before the new government came to power.

Sources in the government revealed that the chief minister, who holds the power portfolio, has refused to acquire “even an inch of land” at the Katwa site. The plant needs another 550 acres to implement the original plan.

Mamata has met the NTPC top brass on two occasions — on May 31 and on June 10 — since assuming charge. According to officials, Mamata told the central utility’s chairman, Arup Roy Choudhury, and other officials that further acquisition of land for the project was “out of the question”.

“Acquiring even an inch of land was ruled out by the chief minister. What will become of the project is anybody’s guess,” said a source at Writers’.

The chief minister, according to power department officials, told NTPC to try and set up the project in the 485 acres at its disposal.

“NTPC tried explaining that the units of 800MW each could not be set up over 485 acres but she did not buy the argument. She said that if NTPC is unable to complete the project, it should hand over the land to the government so that some other agency could be invited to start a similar project there,” said a senior official.

According to the Eastern Regional Power Committee estimates, around 0.65 acre is required for every megawatt generated. The requirement of 1,035 acres for the 1,600-MW plant in Katwa was reached on the basis of this formula.

Officials of the power department pointed out that vast areas within a plant were required for a switchyard and facilities for coal dumping and transit, including a giant conveyor belt, an ash pool for dumping coal ash and abundant greenscaping for pollution control.

“The idea of setting up a 1,600-MW plant on 485 acres is absurd,” said a Writers’ Buildings source.

Bengal, a power-surplus state since the 1990s, is now able to generate over 7,100MW against a peak demand of around 6,900MW. But the projected shortfall in peak seasons is around 2,000MW in 2015 — the revised year for completion of the 1,600MW project.

“The Katwa project would have gone a long way in augmenting the state’s power generation capacity. NTPC had brought advanced technology and abundant resources. It will be unfortunate if things don’t work out,” said a government official.

The project was handed over to NTPC after a bitter experience of the West Bengal Power Development Corporation Limited, which was supposed to set up the plant.

The then Left government ran into stiff resistance from 4,600 landlosers who rallied themselves under the Trinamul Congress-backed Save Farmland Cultivators and Agricultural Workers’ Committee. The government considered shifting out the project in 2008 and eventually, handed it to NTPC.

NTPC, which has already invested around Rs 135 crore in the project, will not be able to finish the project before 2015 — two years behind the WBPDCL’s schedule of 2013.

“Pressing the pause button at this stage would lead to drastic cost escalation. NTPC will soon have to take a call on whether they will stay on,” said a power department official.

NTPC is also setting up a 1,320-MW power plant in Purulia’s Adra at an investment of Rs 8,000 crore. Land acquisition was not an issue there as the 850 acres assigned to the project belong to the railways. But an environment question on the nature of the land has yet to be settled.

NTPC is not contemplating a pullout from Katwa as of now. A senior official in Delhi told The Telegraph that engineers were brainstorming to see if the project could be redesigned.

“We are definitely not going to pull out from Katwa. We are already working on a redesign so that a scaled-down project could be set up on the available land. Even if we get around 600 acres, we could set up a smaller plant of lesser generation capacity,” he said.

Asked if NTPC was considering direct purchase of land, the official said: “No. That is not possible. Whatever the amount of land, the government has to get it for us.”
Top

This is a good idea of how Mamata intends to deal with industry.

She is doing exactly what the LF did ... disregard to industry & development on the pretext of 'farmer's right' (instead of 'workers right' in LF regime in the name of trade unionism)

I find her attitude of "not giving an inch more of land" to be absolutely unhelpful.Her immediate priority of the increasing infrastructure of the state also includes power projects and IMO she should have at least,if not directly acquired the rest of the land for the project,give indications that the government would help in identifying vacant land,prospective "willing" farmers,provide a land bank etc.Its like big industry is a taboo,and this is not even an industry its a power plant.Everything cant be done on a truncated piece of land.

Withe the prevailing mind set of the majority of people of W Bengal, it pays to oppose land acquisition than work with the industry to get the land. However, land acquisition is still going ... there are three pages of notification on TOI to acquire land for some new rail line in Nadia district. Its strange that people are giving land willing for rail lines where as opposing for new roads. Economically, road with its multiple access helps local population much more than a rail line with few access.

Its strange that people are giving land willing for rail lines where as opposing for new roads. Economically, road with its multiple access helps local population much more than a rail line with few access.

The answer lies there! A person having land by the roadside will not give it up easily because it commands much higher price than a land by the side of a railway line. Even for a new road, he will expect the road to pass just beside his holding..... Anyone read "game theory"?

"Wave of investment proposals in West Bengal" - Star Ananda

Nayachar
Haldia Petrochem
Shetty Hospital

http://starananda.starnews.in/kolkata/59-more/6528-2011-07-04-16-34-50

Hinduja IT Unit Seeks Land in Durgapur for BPO Hub
SUTANUKA GHOSAL ET KOLKATA

Hinduja Group is planning to expand its presence in West Bengal.Hinduja Global Solutions,the IT arm of the group,has just put in a proposal to the state IT department for some 20,000 square feet at the Durgapur IT Park to set up a BPO hub.The company has already taken some 25,000 square feet at the Siliguri IT Park for another BPO unit that will largely service clients of a telecom major.The Siliguri facility is slated to generate employment for 1,500 people.Hindujas expansion plans come at a time when the Mamata Banerjee government is giving special emphasis on the IT sector for creating employment and retaining talent.Hinduja Global Solutions is keen to expand its operations in West Bengal, a senior IT department official said.Earlier,it had set up a BPO operation at Durgapur which at present employs nearly 2,500 people.They are satisfied with the quality of people working at their facility.This has prompted them to take a bigger space in Durgapur.The space will be rented out to the Hindujas for a period of three years.We are trying to accommodate them at the earliest. The Hinduja wing has 30 delivery facilities acr oss the world.The present Durgapur facility acts as hub for West Bengal,Bihar,Orissa,Assam and north eastern states.While the IT department is busy arranging space for Hinduja Global Solutions,it is also in the process of reviewing the status of the proposed projects of Infosys and Wipro at Rajarhat.Both the IT giants have projected to invest.1,000 crore each in these new facilities.Sources said Commerce and Industry Minister Partha Chatterjee has directed the IT department to prepare a detailed report on land that has been earmarked for IT units.He has also sought the details of the pending IT projects in the state.The government is also taking steps to beef up Webel,the nodal agency that is responsible for promoting the software and electronics industry in the state.Tamal Dasgupta,managing director of Webel,has resigned and he is being replaced by Utpal Bhattachrya,joint secretary of the IT department.Bhattacharya has been appointed as interim managing director of Webel till a permanent candidate is found.The government has also taken the decision not to retrench any employees of Webel and its six subsidiaries.On the contrary,it will shortly recruit people at Webel.The IT department will also consider redeploying the existing staff at Webel and its subsidiaries, sources added

"Wave of investment proposals in West Bengal" - Star Ananda

Nayachar
Haldia Petrochem
Shetty Hospital

http://starananda.starnews.in/kolkata/59-more/6528-2011-07-04-16-34-50

^^Let me run for cover, else I may get drowned:) During the FICCI meet last Saturday, the golgappa industry minister PC seemed a bit impatient when asked various questions about land. He needs to understand that customer is king, in this case industry has to feel fully comfortable before commiting money and resources. It is clear that no major confirmed proposal has been signed yet, PC may as well start feeling the heat since it also affects his monthly scorecard. The key is identifying and publishing the land bank which the state govt has promised to do by end of the month

cc: TNN

Like Kolkata,Howrah and the Asansol-Durgapur belt will have a commissioner of police each.The state cabinet is to finalize recruitment of policemen this week to man the two commissionerates being set up for better policing of the towns.
Around eight police stations are initially to be under the control of this new commissionerate of Howrah,which will start functioning from this month.
The state government is planning to set up a separate police commissionerate for Asansol and Durgapur,but it will take some time to function,officials feel.Right now,there are eight police stations in Asansol and nine in Durgapur.Both regions are infested by the coal mafia.
The police brass is planning to set up 35 police stations for the police commissionerate of Asansol-Durgapur in Burdwan.The two industrial towns of Burdwan have a high crime index and the Mamata Banerjee government plans to go tough on crime.
Setting up another police commissionerate in Siliguri is also being considered but right now,the two police commissionerates will be launched.
The proposal for setting up the Howrah police commissionerate was pending for a long time during the Left Front regime.Now,the new government is giving priority to policing Howrah,where extortion and crime related to scrap iron is a menace.The commissionerate will be located in the industrial zone and include Howrah municipal area and Bally.
An officer of the rank of IG will be the commissioner of police and a DIG will be the joint CP,while there will be six DCs who will be of the rank of SP or additional SP and 12 assistant commissioners.Initially,the commissionerate will start functioning with skeletal staff as the required 800 policemen cannot be recruited immediately.The officers will also be gradually posted to the commissionerate.The eight police stations to be under this commissionerate are Howrah,Golabari,Malipanchghara,Liluah,Bally,Bantra,Shibpur and Jagacha.The commissionerate will police a total 93 sqkm and serve around 15 lakh people.
The new police commissionerate of Howrah will have a detective department as well as traffic,special branch and headquarters divisions and each will be headed by a DC.Eight police stations will be divided into north and south divisions and put under the control of two DCs.

Bengal puts panchayat polls above industry, halts land acquisition

http://www.istockanalyst.com/business/news/5270727/bengal-puts-panchayat-polls-above-industry-halts-land-acquisition

West Bengal's new government has halted land acquisition for industrial projects, jeopardizing at least a dozen investment proposals for which the administration had begun securing land.

"Industry can wait," said Shishir Adhikari, junior minister for rural development at the Centre and a leader of the Trinamool Congress, which heads the state government. "The focus now is on the 2013 panchayat (village council) election. We can't take chances with farmers at this juncture."

Dipankar Mukhopadhyay, principal secretary in the state's commerce and industries department, said he had received instructions to pull the plug on land acquisition even for projects already cleared by the state government to receive assistance.

"We would help businessmen to buy land on their own," he said, but did not clarify how the state proposed to assist them.

Addressing the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry on Saturday, the state's commerce and industries minister Partha Chatterjee said land acquisition in West Bengal was "a closed chapter".

The decision to abort land acquisition midstream could derail, among other projects, three proposed steel plants in the backward district of Purulia. The combined requirement of these steel plants is around 5,700 acres, and the government has already acquired about 2,600 acres, according to state government officials.

Kolkata-based Jai Balaji Group has plans for a 5 million tonnes (mt) steel plant on 3,400 acres to be provided by the state government. The state has so far acquired 1,100 acres and the company has begun construction of a 2 mt plant it planned for the first phase.

"We have already initiated work, though we are yet to receive 150 acres more for the first phase only," said Aditya Jajodia, managing director of the Jai Balaji Group. "We want clarity on the policy--we haven't received any communication from the government saying it wouldn't acquire more land."

It is impossible for steel companies to acquire land on their own because the process takes a lot of time, said Lalit Beriwala, a director at Shyam Steel Industries Ltd--another company affected by the state's decision to stop acquiring land for industries.

The firm had asked the state government for 1,200 acres to build a 1 mt steel plant and a cement plant of the same capacity. It has so far received about half of this, Beriwala said.

"Bandyopadhyay appears to be ignoring the fact that even in the US--the mecca of the free-market economy--the government acquires land under the principle of eminent domain," said the head of a consulting firm who did not want to be named.

Bengal puts panchayat polls above industry, halts land acquisition

http://www.istockanalyst.com/business/news/5270727/bengal-puts-panchayat-polls-above-industry-halts-land-acquisition

^^Can we trust this report ? I am surprised at this one coming 2 days after the FICCI meet.

^^Can we trust this report ? I am surprised at this one coming 2 days after the FICCI meet.

I think it is sourced from the Mint (at least that is what the website says).

Trusting a news report about West Bengal? You have to do that at your own risk.

:lol:

I think it is sourced from the Mint (at least that is what the website says).

Trusting a news report about West Bengal? You have to do that at your own risk.

:lol:

^^thank god for that, Sun. My heart started aching reading the adhikari fellows comments.

^^thank god for that, Sun. My heart started aching reading the adhikari fellows comments.

I am assuming that Mr Adhikari did make that statement to the journalist. Now whether he was just saying it in his own personal capacity or with Didi's blessings remains to be seen.

Hinduja IT Unit Seeks Land in Durgapur for BPO Hub

^^The term land surely gives goose bumps to our media honchos and journalists. From what I understood the title should have been Hinduja seeks IT office space to expand their operations and not land to construct their own campus.

^^The term land surely gives goose bumps to our media honchos and journalists. From what I understood the title should have been Hinduja seeks IT office space to expand their operations and not land to construct their own campus.

correct. It is good that that the Hindujas are happy with Durgapur talent and are willing to expand for a third time (http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100817/jsp/business/story_12819249.jsp)(despite all the criticism by Trinamool "intellectuals" and "economists" about the poor quality of West Bengal resources because of Left Front policies).

I am assuming that Mr Adhikari did make that statement to the journalist. Now whether he was just saying it in his own personal capacity or with Didi's blessings remains to be seen.

^^If he did not say it then he can sew the company for false publishing. Will Miss Banerjee 'advise' him to say this? We know she is not stupid, but I still think she lacks a large scale vision for the state.

^^If he did not say it then he can sew the company for false publishing. Will Miss Banerjee 'advise' him to say this? We know she is not stupid, but I still think she lacks a large scale vision for the state.

She does have some good vision for the state - Kolkata to London, Digha to Goa, Darjeeling to Switzerland, eco industries, no land acquistion, rabindrasangeet at pedestrian crossings etc.

'Govt will not run after investors'

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-07-03/kolkata/29732820_1_land-bank-acres-new-government

The Mamata Banerjee government has identified 3,500 acre for industries, even as the erstwhile Left Front government had claimed to have a land bank of 8,000 acre. The commerce and industries department will put up the list of these plots on its website for investors. The new government won't woo them or take them around the state soliciting ventures, but they will have to meet the government if they wish to foray into Bengal, according to commerce and industries minister Partha Chatterjee.

The minister, after participating in a meeting between the chief minister and a delegation of Ficci members, told reporters his department had so far identified 3,500 acres, which were free of litigation and could be used for industry. These plots were within the jurisdiction of the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC), West Bengal Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (WBIIDC) and Asansol Durgapur Development Authority (ADDA).

^^ and investors will not run after WB govt.!

^^ and investors will not run after WB govt.!

Well if the media is to be believed then Sisir Adhikary has said that "Industry can wait". Then you have Industry minister Partha C implying that the "state will not run after investors". Then why are they doing all these investor conferences? All kinds of mixed signals are emanating from the new regime. I wonder if the media is making up and putting words in the mouths of the ministers.

Century Textiles to complete cement expansion by March 2013

http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/century-textiles-to-complete-cement-expansion-by-march-2013_562833.html

Century Textiles and Industries Ltd 's Rs 2,000-crore upgradation and expansion programme to increase cement capacity is expected to complete by March, 2013, the company said in its annual report for 2010-11 here.

The orders have been placed for the main plant and machinery for the grinding unit with a capacity of 1.5 million tpa at Sonar Bangla Cement at Sagardighi in West Bengal. The grinding unit is expected to be operational by September, 2012. The total outlay is estimated at Rs 425 crore.

She does have some good vision for the state - Kolkata to London, Digha to Goa, Darjeeling to Switzerland, eco industries, no land acquistion, rabindrasangeet at pedestrian crossings etc.

^^There is a difference between vision and wishful thinking. In Mamata or the state govt's case it is more so the latter. Vision or wish should translate into visible results over a period of time and even the stubborn brains of some of the TMC ministers realize that.

It seems now we can even rrach Singapore by road....read this...:D

Underwater tour,coral world planned for Digha

cc: TNN

Soon,you may not have to travel all the way to Singapores Sentosa Island to get an experience of the world under the sea.Taking her plans to turn Digha into an international tourism hub,chief minister Mamata Banerjee has started consulting experts for the biggest infrastructure boost in the sea towns history.
Digha could be included in the 20 countrywide destinations that the tourism ministry wants to develop on the lines of Sentosa Island on a partnership basis with state governments or private agencies.
To start with,there are plans to set up an observatory that will enable visitors to watch the marine life from under the sea.Fishes and other water species will be allowed to move freely around a glass cage and there will be divers outside this zone to entertain visitors.Those keen on a sea excursion can have special gears and dive into the sea under the supervision of divers.
To attract foreign tourists,the chief minister wants to introduce a journey to the sea bed and experts from Singapore are likely to be consulted for this.Visitors can see what the sea bed looks like at night,too.In the marine world,tourists can get close to harmless marine species like dolphins in a lagoon that will be created amidst a simulating natural habitat.Even a coral world is likely to be set up.
Mamata has also shown interest in starting laser shows with the beach and the sea as background.Besides,introduction of water sports is on the cards to let people enjoy rides on roaring waves.
The CM has already directed demolition of illegal hotels along the Digha beach.The site for the marine world will soon be finalized and work will start from the edge of the sea.She wants to set up a bio-diversity park near the underwater world.This is being planned as a hangout zone for the young.

Haldia may finally get the boost it needs to realize its full potential as an industrial and business hub. More than two decades after Haldia Petrochemicals set up shop, the sea-port town is likely to get the first bullet traintype corridor in the country.
Lalu Prasad had first proposed running India's version of 'bullet trains' in his last railway budget in 2009. The people called it a pipe-dream. When Mamata Banerjee became railways minister, she revived the proposal and announced that pre-feasibility studies would be carried out for six high-speed corridors. The then Bengal government had agreed to bear 50% cost of the pre-feasibility study for a high speed route between Kolkata (Howrah or Sealdah) and Haldia.
Now, Mamata, in her capacity as chief minister of West Bengal, has gone a step further. She has given railway consultancy body RITES the go-ahead to carry out a study on an elevated corridor to Haldia. This 'tracks on stilts' will do away with the need to acquire large tracts of land and will also cut the distance between the state capital and Haldia - which was proposed to be the largest business hub in Bengal - by nearly half.
"The former state government had made attempts to develop Haldia into the most important business destination in Bengal. But one of the main impediments was the lack of proper connectivity. Even today, it takes nearly two and a half hours to travel to Haldia by road or rail. No investor would feel confident if it takes so long to cover a distance of 135 km. Mamata, immediately after taking over as chief minister, turned her attention to Haldia and resumed attempts to develop it into a sought after destination for investors. For this, connectivity has to be improved. While work on the national highway between Mecheda and Haldia has resumed, the chief minister also wants a high-speed rail corridor between the two cities," an official said.
She has asked RITES to explore the prospect of connecting Haldia through an elevated corridor from both Howrah and Sealdah. Officials are already trying to find out how much compensation would have to be paid to farmers and other landowners if pillars (for the elevated corridor) were to be erected on their land. Howrah already has a rail connection to Haldia via Panskura. The elevated corridor would not have to follow this alignment though and could take a more direct route. Officials believe that the distance between the two cities could be cut down to about 80-90 km. A high-speed train, running along a dedicated corridor, could cover this distance in less than an hour. The idea is to get people to commute to Haldia from Kolkata in a jiffy.
"The connection from Sealdah would be shorter and it could link-up with the proposed bridge between Raichak and Kukrahati. Even from Howrah, the elevated corridor would not have to go up to Panskura but could turn towards Haldia after crossing the Rupnarayan at Kolaghat," the official said.
One of the main concerns would be the exorbitant cost involved. According to officials, every km of elevated track costs nearly Rs 25 crore. This could send the project expense spiraling to over Rs 2,000 crore. Sources close to Mamata, however, said that the chief minister is confident that the railways can look forward to private participation.

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=TOIKM/2011/07/06/2/Img/Pc0020900.jpg

Source: Times of India (http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIKM%2F2011%2F07%2F06&ViewMode=HTML&PageLabel=2&EntityId=Ar00201&AppName=1&FontSize=g2)

BBD Bagh beautification - Consulting agency - RITES
Riverfront Beautification - Consulting agency - RITES
High Speed Train - Consulting agency - RITES

So what exactly is the criterion to select these agencies? Personal favourites? Or are they doing it for free for the cash strapped West Bengal?

BBD Bagh beautification - Consulting agency - RITES
Riverfront Beautification - Consulting agency - RITES
High Speed Train - Consulting agency - RITES

So what exactly is the criterion to select these agencies? Personal favourites? Or are they doing it for free for the cash strapped West Bengal?

I heard even the Writers Building's new canteen will be run by a railway agency. Not sure if it is true.

BBD Bagh beautification - Consulting agency - RITES
Riverfront Beautification - Consulting agency - RITES
High Speed Train - Consulting agency - RITES

So what exactly is the criterion to select these agencies? Personal favourites? Or are they doing it for free for the cash strapped West Bengal?

Most likely reason is that RITES is a safe choice ... MB will not mind