Gujarat better than Bengal: Biz bosses

admin — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 15:01:48 +0000

Like him or hate him, the industrial climate in Narendra Modi‘s Gujarat is much better than that in Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s Bengal. This observation comes from none other than two business houses with strong Bengal links – Universal Success Enterprises Ltd (USEL) and Keventer Agro. Land acquisition in Gujarat takes between one and three months, something unthinkable in Bengal.

NRI businessman Prasoon Mukherjee’s USEL and M K Jalan’s Keventer Agro have already signed MoUs with the Gujarat government during the recent Global Investors Summit in Gujarat.

Like Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata, Mukherjee and Jalan have excellent experience about Modiland. USEL has proposed to invest Rs 87,000 crore in Modi’s state, the highest investment in the current fiscal. Mukherjee, chairman of USEL, said the Gujarat government has assured him to hand over the land with all the approvals within three months. It has asked for 11,000 acres for a multiproduct SEZ, power unit and ports.

Incidentally, USEL is investing Rs 30,000 crore on an SEZ, Rs 50,000 crore for a power plant and Rs 7,000 crore for setting up two ports. The Gujarat government has already identified land in a coastal location , as desired by USEL.

“The unique thing about Gujarat is that they have created a huge land bank, which is really commendable,” said Mukherjee. “So, for most projects , the state government can offer land immediately. Even for mega projects like USEL, the Gujarat government already has a major chunk of land. We are confident of getting it in time.”

Mukherjee also had words of praise for Modi’s honesty. “I should say there is a similarity between Gujarat and Bengal. The Gujarat administration is also clean, like that of Bengal. We did not have to pay a single rupee under the table there, like in Bengal,” he added.

Jalan’s Keventer Agro has got land within 30 days after it formally submitted the proposal . By the time it signed the MOU in the summit, the group had possession of the land. “We shall now start the boundary wall. Our land is near the Nano factory at Sanand,” said Jalan. “This is something unbelievable in Bengal. It takes at least 6 to 7 months for the conversion of the character of land from agricultural to industrial . Here, it comes along with the land.”

Keventer has got 30 acres for its proposed Rs 115-crore food processing venture. Jalan is so overwhelmed by the experience that he is planning more investments in Gujarat. “Keventer wants to be a part of Gujarat’s agro vision. They are talking about dedicated ports for agro and food processing , which is a superb concept ,” he said.

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Gujarat better than Bengal: Biz bosses