The two-day Bengal Global Business Summit 2019 closed on Friday, with the West Bengal government signing 86 agreements entailing business proposals worth ₹2.84 lakh crore. On the inaugural day, the State received firm announcements totalling ₹40,000 crore from Reliance, Group, ITC and others.
Besides city-based corporates, the summit saw participation from JSW Group, the House of Hiranandani, Great Eastern Energy and multinationals such as Alstom, Accor, DP World, IKEA, Schneider Electric, IBM and Dell. A significant outcome of the summit was the state-to-state partnerships signed with Lombardy Regional province Italy, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and Jeollonam-do Province, Korea.
Promoting trade
The U.K. India Business Council (UKIBC) signed an MoU to work together on promoting trade and investment. Officials said that the state had a high implementation rate and many of the proposals signed during the four earlier summits were now on ground.
Reliance Industries’ chief Mukesh Ambani said that West Bengal had found place among the group of fastest growing States in India under Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s leadership. “Agriculture is booming here and farmers’ incomes are rising. The State accounts for the highest rise in credit flow of micro small and medium enterprises among all Indian states,” he noted.
PepsiCo India president and CEO Ahmed ElSheikh said that his company planned to expand operations and increase engagement with the State’s potato farmers.
Over 1,200 B2B and 63 B2G meetings took place during the two-day event. Prospective investors were also given a shelf of investible projects during the event. There are 150 project profiles spawning 17 sectors with a total investment potential of ₹1.25 lakh crore.
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