RIL to invest Rs 5K crore in 'Best Bengal', says Mukesh Ambani

The fourth edition of Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) aimed at attracting business to West Bengal, saw top industrialists committing to invest in the state.

Among top industrialists present at the event, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani said that his company would invest Rs 5,000 crore in West Bengal in non-Jio business, in addition to the Rs 15,000 crore which the company has already invested in the last two years. The investment would be made in retail and petroleum segments. He added that his company was looking for multiple partners for electronic manufacturing facility and intended to set up phone and set top box manufacturing units in Bengal.

Chairman and managing director of the JSW Group, Sajjan Jindal also announced his investment plans in the state. "We have plans to invest Rs 10,000 crore in Bengal over 3-4 years in sectors such as steel, paint, expansion of the cement unit and power," he said.

Sanjeev Goenka, Chairman of RP Sanjiv Goenka Group, said that other than investing in a medical hospital, he would also put in Rs 1,000 crore in power distribution sector over the next 18 months.

In a bid to highlight the business-friendliness of the state, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee played the 'tolerance' card during her speech

She said, "You will not get this type of state anywhere else. We love the unity of India. We love being tolerant. If we are not tolerant, how can investors have confidence in us? Bengal attracts investment because there is no pressure, no discrimination, and no intimidation."

Comparing to the performance of the previous Left Front government, she said that before her government had come to power in 2011 the number of mandays lost was 78 lakh but at present there was political stability. "Now it is zero. We dont allow any strike. We dont even spare our own partymen because we have to protect our assets. Industry is our asset," she said. Taking a jibe at the Left she had also said, "We are a family carrying the legacy of the earlier government still we are number one in 'ease of doing business'.

Even in the little audio visual documentary which was shown on the giant screen of the newly-built Convention Centre, venue to the fourth BGBS, there was mention of '34 years of Left misgovernance' and 'mandays lost'.