Land no problem for setting up industries in Bengal: Mitra

West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra today said the state government has sufficient land, which could be used for setting up new industries in an environment where rules for registration have been simplified to help investors.
"Land is not a problem for setting up industries in the state. We have enough land to offer for setting up industrial units," Mitra said, ruling out allegations that land has been a major hurdle for setting up industries or attract investment to West Bengal.
Talking to reporters after a meeting of the Standing Committee on Industries convened by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Mitra said the state land bank has a pool of about one lakh acres of land, besides over 4,000 acres with the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC), which could be offered for industrial purpose.

The state has 38 industrial parks, of which 23 were with the WBIDC and the rest 15 with the WBIIDC, he said.
Elaborating steps by the state government, Mitra said for Registration Certificate-I or Registration Certificate-II, procedures have been simplified to benefit the investors.
For RC-I, now an investor in medium and big sector, would require six clearances instead of 20 required earlier.

Similarly for RC-II, investors would now require only five clearances instead of 16 sought earlier, he said, adding "this will benefit the industrialisation process."
For clearance related to water to run industries, investors had to rush to the Water Resources department, but now on they would get this clearance directly from a District Level Authority following decentralisation of the procedure, the Minister said.

For MSME sector, Mitra said Provisional Trade Licenses would now be available for one year as soon as the primary formalities are completed.
Later, Trade Licenses would be issued for three years after submission of all required documents.
For incentives in the MSME sector, applicants would now require to submit only EM-2 (Entrepreneur Memorandum -2) Certificate. The need for submission of eligibility and registration has been abolished, Mitra said.
The state government has also extended the time to keep shops and business establishments open from 8 AM to 10 PM instead of 7 AM to 7 PM earlier on condition that the Labour Law was not flouted, he added.