Investors are again turning to Bengal: Amit Mitra

West Bengal Finance and Commerce Minister Amit Mitra Friday said investors were again turning to the state which has over Rs.78,000 crore investments under process, and fresh proposals worth another Rs.120,000 crore.

"All are turning towards West Bengal. We have Rs.78,263 crore worth of investment under process which means that these are at various stages of completion. We also have Rs 1.2 lakh crore fresh investment proposals," Mitra said at an industry chamber FICCI-organised meet.

"The state government has made available 4,000 acres of land for investment and another 3,000 will be ready for investment in the next six months," he added

Highlighting his point of a turnaround in investor sentiment, Mitra said the state doubled its tax collections from Rs.21,000 crore to Rs.40,000 crore in 2013-14, and aims to reach Rs.45,000 crore in the current financial year.

West Bengal in 2013-14 also secured the first position in bank lending to micro, small and medium industries, he added.

To overcome siltation in ports, a 18.5-metre deep sea port at Sagar island is being jointly developed by the state and the central governments, Mitra said.

He also invited the business community to the two-day "Bengal Global Business Summit" to be held in Kolkata next year from Jan 7.

Speaking on the occasion, FICCI president Sidharth Birla said: "The state government has not only come up with a new West Bengal Investment and Industrial Policy 2013 but also various sector specific policies in the areas like textiles, MSME, ICT.

"Many significant measures have been taken to improve the Ease of Doing Business' by introducing time bound, process driven and ICT enabled systems to bring more transparency and reduce red tape," he added.