Congress asks Mamata to reveal land bank in state
At a time when chief minister Mamata Banerjee, appealed to industrialists to invest in Bengal, assuring them of providing necessary land, at an occasion organised by FICCI on Saturday, the Congress in Bengal criticised the chief minister, asking her to reveal the land bank in the state. HT reports.
At a time when chief minister Mamata Banerjee, appealed to industrialists to invest in Bengal, assuring them of providing necessary land, at an occasion organised by FICCI on Saturday, the Congress in Bengal criticised the chief minister, asking her to reveal the land bank in the state.
"She has to disclose the specifics of the land bank," Pradeep Bhattacherjee, the state Congress president and a Rajya Sabha MP said at a rally.
Criticising Mamata's statement, Bhattacherjee said that no industrialist would invest in Bengal for the policy, which the chief minister has adopted for industrialisation in Bengal.
"Land is the first need to set up an industry. But the present government has clearly said that they would not go for any land acquisition as it is a part of their policy," Bhattacherjee said.
"It needs a one-window system for the industrialisation in the state," he added.
Bhattacherjee alleged that a situation of fear psychosis is reigning over the state.
Earlier in March, the state commerce minister Partha Chatterjee said that already his government had identified nine lakh acres for land bank to be used for the industrial development of the state.
Chatterjee this at an interactive session organised by the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce (BNCCI).
The statement came after a private company appointed by the state government made a study on the available land bank that could be used for industry.
On Friday, the state cabinet decided to take the auction route to allot government land for industrial projects. The government will fix the base price of land for auction. But land will not sold be forever but allocation will be made on 99-year lease.
Earlier an officer attached to the state commerce department told HT that there was not a single plot of land of 1,000 acres at one go. And when it came to a plot of 500 acres, there were barely more than three or four such plots.