The absence of the country's leading industrialists and heads of prominent business chambers looked all the more glaring as Banerjee's investment meet comes close on the heels of its Gujarat counterpart "Vibrant Gujarat" that saw the presence of all the big players from the industrial world as well as a clutch of potential foreign investors. Having roped in the likes of Ratan Tata, Ambani brothers Mukesh and Anil, Adi Godrej, as also a virtual Who's Who from the business community, it was easy for the western state's chief minister Narendra Modi to showcase his province.
Banerjee did hand out land allotment letters to 12 industrial units and clearances for using land in excess of the Land Ceiling Act to 27 companies. But it paled into insignificance compared to the Rs 65,000 crore worth concrete investment proposals which marked "Vibrant Gujarat".
The West Bengal chief minister sought investment not only in heavy industries and information and technology, but also in the infrastructure sector - roads, education, health and transport - mostly in the public-private-partnership model. She informed the industrialists that there were plans to set up cold storages and agricultural markets in all the blocks, and polytechnic colleges in each sub-division, and land has been identified for 44 industrial clusters across the state.
The chief minister also asked the corporates to take her e-mail id and mail her directly in case they had problems. "I will personally do the needful to solve the problem".
