Mamata Banerjee to meet Mukesh Ambani to urge him to invest in West Bengal

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee will meet with Reliance Group chairman Mukesh Ambani on Wednesday and urge him to bring investment for West Bengal
Banerjee is scheduled to reach Mumbai on Tuesday evening and she will stay for a day in India’s financial capital. Accompanied by West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra, who is also a former director general of FICCI, Banerjee will meet several industrialists to seek investments for her state.

Sources in the state government said that Banerjee had earlier sought an appointment with Ambani and he responded positively a few days back, which is why she decided to visit Mumbai.

A senior official of the state government said, “The representatives from the state government will show a presentation of about current industrial scenario in Bengal. In particular, they will also highlight the land available with the state government in their land bank along with the infrastructure and the logistical support that state government can provide.

Sources in the state government said that the representatives from the state government will also highlight the incentives that government will be giving to industrialists.

It may be mentioned that in 2013, Banerjee met with Mukesh Ambai in Mumbai at an investors summit and she has been pinning hopes that Reliance Industries might invest in West Bengal.

Interestingly, Reliance Industries has not participated in the auction process for Haldia Petrochemicals Limited in 2016, although they had initially agreed to participate in the auction process at first.

Partha Chatterjee , state parliamentary affairs minister said, “CM Banerjee went to Mumbai to meet industrialists to seek investment for Bengal. It was a pre-planned meeting and we hope for the best.”

Amol Mukherejee, senior political analyst and former principal of Presidency College, said “Banerjee has decided to meet with the industrialists of Mumbai to get feedback on whether they are interested to invest in Bengal. Although she has started various pro-poor schemes, but Bengal still lags behind on the industrial front”.