People's Democracy(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
Vol.
XXVII No. 06 February 09, 2003 |
BETWEEN
January
and
December
of
2002,
a
total
of
Rs
2,231.93
crore
worth
of
103
industrial
schemes
have
been
put
in
place
in
Bengal
in
the
medium
and
heavy
industrial
sectors.
Over
and
above
this,
projects
have
taken
off
in
the
small
sector,
the
roads
sector,
and
the
communications
sector
as
well.
Also,
a
private
firm
has
undertaken
the
laying
of
fibre-optic
cables
in
the
state
in
a
project
where
an
additional
investment
of
Rs
1500
crore
has
been
made.
As
the
current
financial
year
is
on
its
way
to
be
wound
up,
ten
more
projects
in
the
iron
and
steel
industry
have
been
provided
with
the
state
government’s
approval.
The
cumulative
investment
figure
for
these
additional
projects
stands
at
Rs
1,036
crore.
Industries
minister
of
the
Bengal
Left
Front
government,
Nirupam
Sen
gave
the
breakdown
of
the
sector-wise
investment
figures
in
the
major
industries.
Sector
|
Units
|
Rs
crore |
Chemicals |
6 |
921.39 |
Cement |
6 |
166.19 |
Iron
and
steel |
16 |
202.97 |
Agro-based
&
food
processing |
27 |
178.98 |
Engineering |
8 |
126.16 |
Textiles |
9 |
93.16 |
Information-technology |
8 |
34.17 |
Plastic |
5 |
24.48 |
Hotels,
hospitals,
service |
4 |
468.98 |
Soap
&
detergent |
1 |
5.83 |
Other |
5 |
10 |
Sen
said
that
over
the
past
year
large
number
of
high-power
trade
delegations,
Indian
and
foreign,
have
visited
Bengal.
A
number
of
foreign
diplomats,
too,
have
come
to
the
state
looking
for
investment
opportunities.
Sen
was
confident
that
the
high
rate
of
growth
of
the
Bengal
economy
was
chiefly
due
to
industrial
production
reaching
a
record
level.