Zee Media Bureau
Kolkata: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said that West Bengal has several strengths as it is stratigecally located and is one of the most important cities of India.
Speaking at the fourth edition of the two-day Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) today, he told investors, "If each one of you invest in Bengal I assure you that centre will stand behind you."
Jaitley said that notwithstanding political differences India Inc remains a strong federation of states.
"We have a responsiblity to deliver from Delhi what we had promised. You (West Bengal CM) have a mandate to rule the state. You have a responsiblity to deliver what was promised by you," he said.
The Finance Minister added that in an era of cooperative federalism, the centre and states will have to cooperate.
"Have assured states of compensating against any loss of revenue. The revenue position of West Bengal will improve in first year of GST implementation," he said.
The summit, hosted by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has brought in global delegation of nearly 500 people from the industry with heavyweights from the union government.
Roads, Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari is also attending the event besides a host of industrialists.
Delegates from 19 countries are taking part in the industry summit. The participating countries include US, Britain, Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Luxembourg and Australia.
The British delegation would be led by former minister and chairman of the UK India Business Council Patricia Hewitt.
The Japanese delegation would include officials from Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the chief executive officer of Mitsubishi Chemicals, Hiroaki Ishizuka while the delegation from South Korea will be represented by the director of the Korean Trade Investment Promotion Agency (Kotra) FH Kim. The global senior vice-president of Samsung Electronics and top officials of Doshan will also be a part of Korean delegation.
With Agency Inputs
