American Chamber of Commerce in India
Apex Chamber of US Industry in India

Breakfast Interactive Session on “Ease of Doing Business in West Bengal” Chief Guest Dr. Krishna Gupta, IAS, Principal Secretary – 28th October 2016

On 28th October 2016, AmCham’s Eastern Region organized a breakfast interactive session on West Bengal: A State Where “Ease of Doing Business” is a Reality. The chief guest was Dr. Krishna Gupta, IAS, Principal Secretary, Department of Commerce and Industries, and Public Enterprise & Industrial Reconstruction Department, Government of West Bengal, who was accompanied by his commerce team comprising of Mr. Surendra Gupta, IAS, Managing Director WBIDC and Mr. Kaushik Basu, Executive Director WBIDC.

Dr. Gupta spoke about the improved governance and ease of doing business in the state, showcasing the state government’s commitment towards inclusive and sustainable development, providing increasing employment opportunities and building West Bengal into a manufacturing hub. He said West Bengal recorded a 12.02% real growth in terms of GVA in 2015-16 (A) and the industry sector of the state observed a growth rate of 10.59% in 2015-16 (A). He highlighted the state’s effort in ease of doing business and concerted effort to project West Bengal as the preferred investment destination through a plethora of industry friendly policies. He mentioned that new territories were being chartered with Bhor Sagar Deep Sea Port coming up at Sagar Island. The Amritsar-Delhi-Kolkata Industrial Corridor (ADKIC) promises to open up new vistas of investment opportunities. Energy sector projects (solar and CGD) and green cities/theme townships are attracting investor attention. With over 3.7 million enterprises, the state has a potential to become a leader in MSME development in the country. He said that armed with new opportunities, West Bengal is all to set to project its business-readiness to the global investor community. He also mentioned that the 2-day long Bengal Global Business Summit 2017, scheduled for January 19-20, would bring together policy makers, corporate leaders from around the globe, delegations, academia, and opinion makers to explore business opportunities, forge partnerships and collaborations.

The guest of honor was Mr. Craig Hall, U.S. Consul General. Mr. K.P. Sengupta, Chairman AmCham Eastern Region, did the welcome address, Mr. Amit Malik, AmCham Executive Committee member moderated the Q&A session and Mr. Debdas Sen, Vice Chairman AmCham ER, gave the vote of thanks.

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