The Chamber was privileged to have the august presence of Dr. Shashi Panja, Hon’ble Minister−in−Charge, Department of Industry, Commerce and Enterprises, Government of West Bengal, at its last Managing Committee meeting and the opportunity to felicitate her on the occasion. Dr. Panja holds charge of three Departments namely, Industries, Commerce & Enterprises, Public Enterprises and Industrial Reconstruction and Women & Child Development & Social Welfare.

In his welcome address, The President, Mr. Subir Chakraborty briefly apprised Dr. Panja about the activities of The Chamber and areas of its expertise to assist the Government. He mentioned that The Chamber would be pleased to work with the Government of West Bengal in organizing the various sessions and B2B meets in BGBS 2023 and undertake sectoral partnership agreements. A letter and a presentation with details of The Chamber’s areas of expertise and activities was handed over to Dr. Panja by the President.

Dr. Panja mentioned that she was happy to be at The Chamber interacting with captains of industries here in Bengal who would speak about the positives of Bengal and could apprise her on the negatives as well. She said that she had made herself accessible and had been speaking with concerned people at various forums ever since she had taken charge of Departments of Industry, Commerce & Enterprises and Public Enterprises & Industrial Reconstruction this year. There had been papers and suggestions from various Chambers and her attention had been drawn towards issues and problems which she was finding exciting and interesting. She was keen to know more about The Bengal Chamber’s detailed work for the State on inland waterways and last−mile connectivity and projects The Chamber had undertaken for the World Bank and also for the Transport Department of the Government of West Bengal in this realm. A brief synopsis was provided and one of the reports on Roll−On Roll−Off vessels prepared with a focus on decongesting the land bridges and city of Kolkata was handed over to her.

She further mentioned that the Chief Minister of the State had always been supportive of growth and development of large and MSME Sector in the State and was going ahead with creation of accessible platforms for the same. Recently a phone number had been launched towards “Industry Grievance Redressal”. The CM was always wanting to find out about the bottlenecks for Industry in the State.

Dr. Panja felt that while the State might have lost out in some cases, there have been no stoppage of work or militant kind of trade unionism of late. Industrial lands had been identified and there were various industrial parks with Government lands. Private lands were also available. New Policies had come concerning tea tourism, ethnol production and promotion policy and on environment, alternative fuel, and other policies aimed at sustainability. Policies concerning forests, ports, coal blocks, rehab, mining and excavation etc were being worked out and would be declared gradually. Large, Medium and Micro Sectors were looked after jointly with co−operation between several Departments. There was a Standing Committee to ensure better co−ordination with Ministers and Secretaries on board along with the Hon’ble Chief Minister.

She felt that there was a positive approach and outlook towards industry, trade and commerce and necessary infrastructure had been built with this in mind. She spoke about the Biswa Bangla Convention Centre and the Biswa Bangla Prangan near Science City. She also spoke about decentralization of industrial parks at the district levels, the developmental work at Jungle Mahal and dedicated freight corridor, about work to be done with neighbouring States as well as the role that Kolkata and the State could play as a gateway to South East Asia.

Stating that she looked forward to further inputs and interactions with The Chamber and to a coherent approach in addressing all issues discussed, Dr. Panja mentioned that she would like to hear a critique as well along with the suggestions given.

The President thanked Dr. Panja for her powerful and enlightening address. He felt that from the various initiatives being taken by the Chief Minister and the Minister−in−Charge, Department of Industry, Commerce & Enterprises, the simple message that was conveyed was “Bengal Means Business” and at this juncture it was important that business and Government should work together so that they are able to project West Bengal as a preferred destination for business not only in the country but also globally in the future.

The Session with Dr. Panja was followed by a very engaging round of discussions with several Members raising queries and coming up with suggestions while thanking the Hon’ble Minister for already having taking a few positive steps in some areas like cross−border trade etc which had yielded results.

The Hon’ble Minister felt that many of the suggestions made by Members required to be looked into in−depth. The President agreed that The Chamber would make a compendium of the suggestions made and submit the same to the Minister.

The Meeting was concluded with the President Designate, Mr. Gautam Ray delivering a formal Vote of Thanks.