West Bengal to set up 72,000 crore industrial zone in Junglemahal: Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal is about to set up Rs 72,000-crore industrial zone in Junglemahal along the eastern freight corridor, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced on Wednesday at the launch of the sixth edition of Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) here. "We have allocated 2,483 acre of industrial land at Purulia for the Junglemahal Shundori Kormonagari' project along the eastern freight corridor from Amritsar to Dankuni", she said.

Major business tycoons including Gautam Adani, Executive Chairman of Wipro Rishad Prasad (AzimPremiji’s son), JSW chairman Sajjan Jindal, among others were present at the summit. The Chief Minister said that the state lost 75 lakh man-days every year during Left Front rule however now, under the TMC regime no man-days were lost. "West Bengal is the first state in India to organise a physical business summit since the Covid pandemic struck," she said adding the state was a gateway to eastern and northeastern India, neighbouring Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal as well as South East Asia. West Bengal will work on eight pillars of development going ahead, including infrastructure, education, social security, skill development and ease-of-doing-business, Banerjee added.

Meanwhile, the Adani Group on Wednesday committed to invest Rs 10,000 crore in West Bengal over the next decade. "Over the next decade, we expect our total investment in Bengal to exceed Rs 10,000 crore. Thereafter, as we continue to expand here, we will bring into Bengal our world-class expertise across the green energy value chain," group chief Gautam Adani said at the sixth edition of BGBS.

"What I am committing to bring to Bengal is the best of the Adani Group our expertise in infrastructure, our speed of execution, our experience, and our focus on building bigger and better. What I am committing to bring is the technology and scale that will help recalibrate infrastructure in Bengal," he said. The investment will help generate 25,000 direct and indirect employment, he added. "What I am committing to bring is the promise that I will live up to the expectations of the people of Bengal," he said.

This is Gautam Adani's first appearance at West Bengal's business summit. Adani is also the highest bidder for the Tajpur deep sea port but the state is yet to announce Adani Port as the L1 bidder.