With the change in government and favourable conditions in West Bengal, investors are returning to the State, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said on Friday.

Laying the foundation stone for a ₹15,000-crore integrated steel-plant expansion project at Mejia in Bankura district, he accused the previous Trinamool Congress government of driving away investments and leaving the State industrially stagnant.

Mr. Adhikari also announced a slew of proposed projects, including a ₹2,000-crore hospital at New Town by the Adani Group, a battery plant by Sanjeev Goenka Group, and also other investments by Lux, Flipkart, and Amul Dairy.

‘Youth will return’

"Industrialisation of western Bengal is essential to reverse the decades of migration from districts such as Bankura, Purulia, Paschim Bardhaman, and Birbhum. If industries do not come to these districts, infrastructure will not improve, and ancillary industries will not grow. Thousands of young people leave every village for jobs outside the State. They will return once industries come," he said. 

The Chief Minister said the BJP government is committed to create an investor-friendly environment with adequate water, land, other infrastructure, and an absolute law and order in place. “Nobody asks for money the moment you step out of the house. Now industrialists are interested to visit this State. We welcome them," he said.

Pitching the ₹15,000-crore project as the BJP government's biggest industrial initiative, he said the Shyam Steel Group’s proposed 2-MTPA Integrated Steel Plant will add to the national capacity of steel manufacturing and significantly contribute to goal of 300 MT Steel production by 2029-30 as envisaged in the National Steel Policy 2017.

Taking potshots at the previous Trinamool government, he also invited the former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to the steel plant in Bankura.

Mr. Adhikari slammed the previous government for branding the Hindi-speaking and Marwadi community as 'bahiri' (outsiders). He backed them saying they were the ones building industries and generating jobs.

The Chief Minister stated that the former Left regime forcibly occupied lands for 34 years while the Trinamool government left it to the businessmen to grab lands to create industry, abdicating all responsibility. "Had there not been a change in government, all the investments in the pipeline would have gone to Odisha,” he said.