Kolkata: A week after the war of words between him and industrialist Ratan Tata over industrialisation in West Bengal, Industries and Finance Minister Amit Mitra Thursday said the chapter is closed.
"The problems is when an iconic figure like him (Tata) says something, and even if it is wrong, the media twisted it to mean that there is no industry in the entire state. Then the pride of the people of Bengal gets hurt," Mitra said in an interview to a Bengali news channel.
"After he made that comment I gave a reply. Then he tweeted and I again replied. He is respected by everybody but people expect that he should know there cannot be a factory on the roadside between airport and Rajarhat.
"If he wants to see industrialisation in Bengal then he has to go to Panagarh, Goaltore or Kharagpur. I think he must have understood this by now and must be informed. So the chapter is now closed," said Mitra.
In an interaction organised by the Ladies Study Group of Indian Chamber of Commerce here last week, Tata had said, "While driving through Rajarhat, it is unbelievable to see new buildings coming up. But it still looks like a countryside, undeveloped. I do not see much signs of industrial development."
Mitra had then stated that Tata was getting old and suffering from delusion and that was why he had made such comments.
Mitra today said work on industrialisation projects of Rs 78,000 crore were currently on and there were proposals of more than Rs one lakh crore.
"Currently the ground work on setting up industries at various parts of Bengal is on, which is worth Rs 78,000 crore. From cement factory to many other factories, the ground work of setting up the plants is on," Mitra said.
The state has received proposals of setting up industries worth Rs 1.20 lakh crore, he said.
Taking about the availability of land for industries in Bengal, Mitra said, "The state government has set up land banks and land parks from where industries have availed plots. The state government has ample amount of land in those land banks".
