The Chamber organized an Interactive Session with Smt. Vandana Yadav, IAS, Managing Director, West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation and Secretary, Industry, Commerce & Enterprises Department, Government of West Bengal during its Meeting on 13th January 2020. The Session started with the President extending a warm welcome to Smt. Vandana Yadav followed by her introduction to the members present by the Director General. Smt Vandana Yadav, IAS, Managing Director, West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) and Secretary, Industry, Commerce & Enterprises Department, Government of West Bengal. A Masters in International Studies from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Smt. Yadav joined the IAS in 1998. She had also served in the Department of Commerce & Industry, Government of India and dealt with international trade issues handling negotiations and promotions. She has been spearheading the Bengal Global Summit for the last few years as well as the State's engagements with several multilateral institutions.

Smt. Vandana Yadav expressed her pleasure for the opportunity to address the Managing Committee having worked closely with the Chamber for more than a year or so specially towards industry connect and towards information disseminations particularly on Government policies and Government programmes.

Government of Bengal over the last 6 / 7 years has focused a lot on infrastructure which has been of two types (i) physical infrastructure development that has come up in terms of connectivity, rail, road and airport etc. with a view to enabling growth of business and (ii) Government's investment in the State's human capital in terms education, health, skill development, which was also essential for overall growth of trade, commerce and industry and towards development of a market which can takeoff for better human conditions. She said that the economy of Bengal today also reflected these two areas which have been under focus. She mentioned that across the country where there has been stagnation and decline, Bengal has seen consistent growth in all sectors whether it was manufacturing or services and the State was becoming an important contributor the country.s GDP. She felt that for Bengal to continue its growth has to continue investing in these two areas. She sought The Chamber.s support so that Bengal could continue on its growth trajectory and the support was required in the human capital area.

Smt Yadav stated that it was important for her to hear from members present on what was it that the Government needs to do as today, she believed that it was not just subsidies and incentives that the business community looked at. A robust environment and eco-system together with a supportive policy framework was what was required today. Smt Yadav briefly spoke about the Business Conclave which was held in Digha on 11th and 12th December 2019. She explained that the purpose of holding the business conclave at Digha was to take the business environment and business interaction beyond Kolkata. Activities so far had remained Kolkata centric while it was important to engage with small cities and other business centres in the State. Highlights of the Digha Conclave were:

▪  A few encouraging business prospects have emerged in Tourism sector.
▪  The other areas which generated interest was agri-products and agri-marketing, fisheries and marine products and horticulture.
▪  In terms of logistics quite a few very concrete proposals were presented by the Government, the first and foremost being Tajpur Port for which the Government is ready to go for commercial bidding very soon.
▪  The Government was planning to develop logistic hubs at a few places in the State viz. Dankuni, Kharagpur, Siliguri, Malda are some of them and the Government was looking forward to doing these in a PPP mode. Bengal will emerge as a major centre for this segment of demand. Bengal is looking at logistics development in every sector to significantly cut cost.

Smt Vandana Yadav's talk was followed by an engaging round of interactive session which covered a wide range of matters some of which included:
▪  Suggestion for Government meeting with focused industry groups for better understanding their needs.
▪  Clarity on notified industrial areas by the Government, for ease of environmental clearance.
▪  Single window clearances wherever possible for establishment / expansion of industrial units.
▪  Details on Tajpur Project

She mentioned that The Chamber does lot of events and that the Government would be interested in collaborating with the Chamber. The meeting concluded with a formal vote of thanks on behalf of the Chamber by Mr Subir Chakraborty, Vice President.