Will produce BGBS white paper: Tapas

Kolkata: Newly appointed commerce and industry minister Tapas Roy has said he has instructed officials to prepare a white paper on the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS), detailing how many editions of the summit have been held, the expenditure incurred and the extent to which investment commitments have actually materialised.Speaking to TOI, Roy said the new state govt was keen to continue holding a large-scale business summit as a platform for engagement with leading industrialists. "This is also a platform to present the views of the govt as well," he added.The minister also expressed his desire to meet Tata Group seniors at Bombay House and invite them to invest in Bengal. Roy said he would soon discuss the matter with CM Suvendu Adhikari and senior colleagues.On Wednesday, Roy had stated that he wanted to attract investments from the Tata Group in a "big way" and send a message that Bengal was ready for an industrial revival. He made it clear that restoring an industry-friendly environment and rebuilding investor confidence would be among the key priorities of the new govt.He had also said efforts would be made to bring back more than 6,500 enterprises and entrepreneurs that had shifted their operations out of the state over the years.Meanwhile, Patton Group MD and former Indian Chamber of Commerce president Sanjay Budhia, along with a delegation from the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCC&I), met Roy on Thursday. The delegation included Navanit Narayan, senior vice-president of BCC&I and chief executive officer and whole-time director of Haldia Petrochemicals; Nazeeb Arif, member of the managing committee of BCC&I and executive vice-president of ITC; Subhodip Ghosh, director-general of BCC&I; and Shourya Mandal, co-managing partner of Fox Mandal & Associates LLP."It was a very fruitful interaction with the minister about the huge potential and endless possibilities of our state. We are confident that under CM Suvendu Adhikari, Bengal will move forward on the fast track of industrialisation," Budhia said. During the meeting, Navanit Narayan spoke about developing Haldia into a global chemicals hub equipped with modern infrastructure and highlighted major investments being made by Haldia Petrochemicals in Bengal.