Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced five new industrial policies, aimed to boost the state’s exports, modernise logistics, and promote renewable energy manufacturing, and appointed Sourav Ganguly as the brand ambassador of Bengal at the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) this afternoon at the Biswa Bangla Convention Centre in New Town.

The new policies are the West Bengal Logistics Policy 2023, West Bengal Internet Cable Landing Policy 2023, West Bengal Export Promotion Policy 2023, West Bengal Green Hydrogen Policy 2023 and New and Renewable Energy Manufacturing Policy 2023.

Miss Banerjee appointed Saurav Ganguly as the brand ambassador of Bengal.

Expressing his appreciation of Miss Banerjee, Mr Ganguly said: “She does not take more than a minute to respond to SMS messages despite her very busy schedule. Whenever she meets me she asks about my health and how I was keeping.”

Mr Ganguly had accompanied the chief minister on her recent foreign tour. Miss Banerjee said there was no divide-and-rule policy in Bengal.

“Here people from different communities, culture, religions live happily and peacefully. We observe all the religious festivals like Durga Puja, Eid, Christmas and the birth anniversaries of Guru Nanak, Lord Buddha and Mahavir.” She said the state government had given financial assistance to the clubs worth Rs 300 crore and businesses saw a turnover of Rs 80,000 crore during the Durga Puja festival. She said 35 countries had taken part in BGBS and out of those 17 countries had voluntarily agreed to become partners.

“If you come to Bengal the hospitality and warmth of the people are bound to touch you. You will always feel that this is your second home,” she said. Miss Banerjee said four industrial and economic corridors will come up in the state. These corridors are Dankuni- Kalyani, Tajpur-Raghunathpur, Dankuni-Jhargram and Durgapur-Cooch Behar.”

Miss Banerjee urged investors to take part in the tender for the deep sea port at Tajpur.

She said the Bantala Leather Complex is doing excellent work and there is a boom in the MSME sector. There are 602 MSME clusters in the state now, she said. Major development has taken place in tourism with more and more home stays being set up across the state.

“The state government has given industry status to the tourism and hospitality industry. This will fetch investment in this sector,” she said.

She regretted that “some political party with vested interest are spreading the narrative that there is only violence in Bengal. This is absolutely false. It is the most peace-loving state in the country.” Miss Banerjee said the Centre had not cleared the dues of the state but despite that, “we continue to grow and move forward”.

She said: “The GSDP of the state has gone up by four times , the revenue collection has also gone up by four times. The total budget allocation has increased 3.8 times. Bengal is one of the fastest-growing states in the country and I urge you to invest in the state. We really mean business. We have land bank, land use policy and the administration will provide you with all facilities.”