Developments in Nandigram and Singur, where the government's bid to acquire farm land for industrialization ran into stiff resistance from locals and main opposition Trinamool Congress, have given enough worries to the ruling alliance.
A recent study conducted by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India indicates that the state's business confidence index is at 6.5 on a scale of 10.
The company wrote to the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee-led Left front government seeking clarification on the agreement in the wake of conflicting reports about the return of project land to farmers. A Tata group spokesperson confirmed that the company had written a letter to the government.
West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation and Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur on Thursday signed a memorandum of association to develop the state's first biotechnology park at Kharagpur.
Airlines say ATF fuel prices in India are 40 per cent higher than in countries such as Singapore. Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra
The West Bengal government has accorded permission to the Tata Motors officials to carry on initial work in the land at Singur earmarked for its Rs 100,000 small car project.
"I cannot tell Ratan Tata to go back", the West Bengal chief minister said while speaking at the annual general meeting of Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Kolkata.
According to the lease agreement between Tata Motors and the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation, the lessor will have the option to terminate the lease if the land has not been used for three years or more, which will kick-in from October 2011. Tata Motors had pulled out of the Nano project in October 2008.
Real estate major DLF and West Bengal government on Monday entered into an agreement to build a township and an industrial hub at Dankuni in the Hooghly district.
The West Bengal government said on Thursday it would go ahead with land acquisition for the Rs 1,000-crore (Rs 10 billion) small car project of Tata Motors at Singur in Hooghly district before Puja.
The state government's stand on land acquisition for industries and the Nandigram police firing on March 14 is understood to have figured at the meeting.
The West Bengal government is in a race against Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka to persuade US aircraft maker Boeing to set up a Maintainance, Repair and Operations hub near Kolkata.
From small restaurants to mighty software companies, it is businesses, not the government, that create jobs. Yet, in a cruel irony, they have to fight extortive and brutal State power every step of the way, says Debashis Basu.
The West Bengal government had early this month shelved the IT township project at Rajarhat in North 24 Parganas, where Wipro and Infosys were supposed to set up their units, after allegations of irregularities in allocation of land for the luxury Vedic Village resort surfaced.
Three different invitations were sent out for the wedding and the receptions with top-run guests being sent a large red box that contained an intricate chest incorporating a mini silver temple featuring gold idols of various Hindu deities, including Lord Ganesh, Radha-Krishna, and Goddess Durga.
Modi later contended at a rally at Gangarampur in Dakshin Dinajpur, that Banerjee has been abusing him almost every other day as he raises questions on Trinamool Congress track record of "corruption".
The first two wheeler factory in West Bengal was inaugurated by Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee at Kamdebpur near Singur in Hooghly district
The state government had adequate land for these projects, the CM said.
Assocham president Niranjan Hiranandani said his talks with government officials showed dues to industry and states were pending in the form of refunds of income tax, value-added tax, and GST, and compensation, payments to discoms in the power sector, fertiliser subsidies, etc.
Nandigram, 126 km south of Kolkata, is Suvendu Adhikari's bastion, where he has vowed to defeat Mamata Banerjee by 50,000 votes or quit politics.
"The government will not tolerate any attempt at picketing or forceful implementation of the strike," the Bengal chief minister told reporters at the secretariat.
BHEL officials had inspected the site in Singur earlier this month where the state government proposed to set up a 1600 MW mega power plant as a joint venture. Railway minister Mamata Banerjee had last week said the Railways would set up a rail coach factory in the site jointly with the state government or under a PPP model.
Leading vendors of the Tata Motors' Nano project intend to set the ball rolling to return their land in the ancillary park area at Singur and said they aim to begin talks with the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation on the issue immediately.
The new management of Dunlop India Ltd headed by P K Ruia has urged the West Bengal Industrial Reconstruction Department to grant it the status of a 'relief undertaking' so that creditors were not able to move court against it. \n
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) on Tuesday announced the acquisition of a 95 per cent stake in Gopalpur Ports in Odisha from Shapoorji Pallonji Group and Orissa Stevedores Ltd at an equity value of Rs 1,349 crore. In Gopalpur Ports, Shapoorji Pallonji Group (SP Group) firm SP Port Maintenance Pvt Ltd has a 56 per cent stake and Orissa Stevedores Ltd (OSL) has a 44 per cent stake. Gopalpur Port is an all-weather deep-water berthing port with a capacity of 20 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) situated in Ganjam district of Odisha.
The meteoric rise of Shajahan Sheikh from a modest background of a helper in a local transport company to becoming the so-called 'tiger' of Sandeshkhali is what Bollywood film scripts are made of. And so does his fall.
'Union Budgets are often used as political instruments and that was the intention of this government too.' 'But while the exercise has settled two fronts, it has left open several others and this has the potential to aggravate with time,' predicts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Several BJP-backed state governments have unveiled schemes targeting the poor, women, farmers and students, following the party's setback in the Lok Sabha polls.
In the wake of growing interest by large industrial groups in West Bengal, the state government has embarked on a plan to revive a number of small airports in the state apart from developing a new airport in Kolkata with private participation.
The spectre of Singur and now its verdict is looming large on the future of many of Bengal's projects, especially the state government's industrial parks that are vacant. As many more episodes await, the question uppermost on everyone's minds is, how long will Singur haunt Bengal?
Appreciating efforts of West Bengal to attract investments, the finance minister said the Centre would extend all support to the Trinamool-government to promote industry and boost growth in the state.
This is for the second time in the last three months that Sinha has come out with praising words for Rahul Gandhi and his 'Bharat Jodo Yatra'.
In a ruling which can have far-reaching consequences, the Supreme Court on Wednesday set aside the controversial acquisition of 997.11 acres of land in Singur in 2006 by the then Left Front government in West Bengal to set up Tata Motors' ambitious Nano car manufacturing plant.
RusPromAvto, Russia's automobile corporation, is to begin assembly of heavy-duty cross-country 'Ural' trucks in India from next month.
Mamata Banerjee painted a bright future for industry in Durgapur.
Both parties will discuss the issues and there will be a meeting again on May 28, he said.
Amid demands for expulsion of arrested West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee by Trinamool Congress leaders, the party convened a meeting on Thursday evening.
"Chakraborty has been given a 'Y+' cover and armed CISF commandos will accompany him during poll campaign in West Bengal," a senior officer said.
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