In an effort to win the hearts of industrialists, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee appealed to them to put faith in her government.
“Trust the government, trust the grassroots, trust the people,” she told them at the inauguration of International Financial Hub at New Town.
Trying to instil confidence in the investors by allaying their fears about her government’s land policy she said, “We are ready to provide you all necessary help. Come forward and invest here. We assure you that we will not interfere in your business. You will have a free hand.”
She also informed the captains of the industry that 1,000 acres of land at Goaltore had been kept ready for industry purposes.
She said that to maintain the law and order in the industrial belts, her government has already set up some police commissionerates and will set up three more in Hooghly, Siliguri and Haldia.
She was speaking after laying the foundation stone of the project. Built by the HIDCO, the financial hub is a cluster of banks and financial institutions that will set up their units here.
Incidentally, a year-and-a-half ago, Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had laid the foundation stone of the same project in presence of the then chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
Ms Banerjee, then the railway minister, was invited. But she had stayed away from the programme citing her policy against land acquisition.
To counter the criticism about taking credit for a project which was the Left Front government’s brainchild, Ms Banerjee said: “The previous government had done it only naam ka waaste. There was not even a foundation stone.”
She blamed the Left Front government for undertaking the project in a directionless and haphazard manner and claimed that it was her government which gave it a concrete shape.
“This hub will help us to tide over the financial crisis,” she explained. The chief minister claimed that the financial hub would create an investment potential of around Rs1,60,000 crores and will generate job opportunities for 2,00,000 unemployed.
Representatives of US and Chinese consulates, financial institutions, banking sector and Chambers of Commerce were present at the function.