Govt to set up infrastructure for industry: Partha

The West Bengal government today said that it will create the necessary infrastructure to attract industrial investments in the state.

"Industry needs water, connectivity, power and logistics for their business. Our priority is to create them," commerce, industry and IT minister Partha Chatterjee said. The government would seek to set up industrial units dispersed across the state and not only near cities and towns, Chatterjee told reporters here. Chatterjee criticised the former LF government for not creating the required infrastructure for industrial houses and sought prime locations on national highways.

On the issue of land for industry, Chatterjee categorically stated that land would not be an issue.

He said that the proposed land bank once created would be put on the public domain for the industry to peruse and decide accordingly and to ensure transparency.

"Land earmarked for industry will be utilised for that purpose only." Referring to IT, he said that the government would welcome not only the biggies, but also the smaller players. "We want Infosys, Accenture and Wipro to do business here. The chief minister's policy is to create jobs," he said.

He also regretted the lack of skill development and talent mismatch among the job seekers.