Bengal says it will help industries to acquire land

With the acquisition of land for projects being the biggest problem faced by industrialists, the West Bengal government on Tuesday assured investors of all possible assistance if they come up with definite investment proposal.

''There is no use harping on the issue of land. I invite those investors who are facing land problems - come to us and we will look into your problems. We have land in our hands and we will arrange land for you. We have around 7,500 acres of industry land sitting idle and are exploring ways to use this,'' state commerce and industries minister Partha Chatterjee told business leaders and various chambers of commerce and industry at a meeting in a Kolkata hotel.

''We are repeatedly telling you one thing. We can't acquire land because that will be against our manifesto. We went to the people asking for votes with this promise. You yourself will have to purchase land for your projects. But I assure you that buying land will not be a problem. You stop worrying about land. It will be our headache,'' Chatterjee said.

Most of the queries from the business leaders at the meeting related to land.

There was also a proposal from the investors to abolish the entry tax in the state. However Chatterjee was reportedly non-commital on the matter.

According to the state industry minister, the government has received investment proposals to the tune of Rs1,03,000 crore in the past one year. ''In all we have received 176 proposals of investment to the tune of Rs1,03,000 crore till now. They already have the land that is why they have submitted the proposals. Land is not an issue,'' he said.