North Bengal Development minister Rabindranath Ghosh has expressed unhappiness over a section of industrialists, and, with folded hands, urged them to utilize plots of land lying idle in north Bengal.

Addressing the North Bengal Investment Forum- 2018 organized by the Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) at Uttarkanya here on Friday, Minister Ghosh said: “The government can easily take legal steps to take back unutilized lands, which are lying idle over three years.

But the government is giving an opportunity to industrialists to set up industries there and providing all types of facilities, including financial assistance for entrepreneurs.” “I am requesting industrials, with folded hands, to utilize those idle land, otherwise the government will take them back,” Mr Ghosh said.

The MCCI organized the meet with the help FOCIN (Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry of North Bengal) and named it ‘Leveraging Competitive Advantage for Future Growth.’ The MCCI also organized sessions of panel discussions on ‘Destination North Bengal: Opportunities in MSME and Tourism,’ ‘Tea Industry: Role in North Bengal’s Development’ and ‘Services Sector: Opportunities in IT, Education, Healthcare and Financial Services in north Bengal.’

In his inaugural address, MCCI president Ramesh Agarwal said: “As part of the Act East policy, North Bengal has been integrated to the central government’s development agenda and action plans also. With its unique location and close vicinity to many international borders, the region can facilitate development of the Bangladesh-China-India- Myanmar (BCIM) Economic Corridor. Better physical infrastructure and smoother connectivity will not only be a huge boost to both trade and bilateral trade with the neighbouring countries, but also go a long way in attracting big investments across sectors.”

Chairman of the PCM Group of Industries, Kamal Kumar Mittal, one of the special guests on Friday, also discussed industrial development in North Bengal. “People still know that North Bengal is lagging behind, while the region has practically developed now. But we failed to send a message to the people about the present situation,” Minister Ghosh also said. He also elaborated on the various scopes that are there to develop industry in many sectors, the government’s positive role in supporting industrialists, and importance of Siliguri as well as Cooch Behar, which is connected with seven northeast states and two countries.

Mr Ghosh said that besides road and rail connectivity, air services were being developed in the region too. “We have approached the airport authorities to provide air services from Kolkata to Bagdogra and from Bagdogra to Kolkata between 8.30 pm and 9.30 pm for very busy industrials, who want to work here throughout the day and return to Kolkata late in the evening,” said Mr Ghosh, adding,”There is good news.

A first such flight will take off on 23 February from Cooch Behar, connecting north Bengal districts with Kolkata.” Speakers of panel discussions on tourism, Samrat Sanyal and Partha Guha, stressed on the need to develop infrastructure of the Bagdogra Airport and its new terminal building. Another speaker, Supratim Raj Basu, pointed out ot the lack initiatives here and problems of transportation with neighboring counties, including Bhutan.

President of the Confederation of Indian Small Tea Growers’ Association, Bijoy Gopal Chakraborty, Chairman of the Terai Indian Planters’ Association KK Mintri, former chairman of the Siliguri Tea Acution Committee Ravi Agarwal, and Dr Syed Edward Kabir, a tea scientist, discussed prospects of industries based on tea in the region. On the services sector, principal of Sri Sri Academy in Siliguri, Chandrama Pradhan; Banking, Finance, Insurance and Capital Market Standing Committee of the MCCI, Smarajit Mitra, Assistant General manager, State Bank of India, Siliguri, and others discussed technical issues on setting up industries in the region.