More than 80 companies representing some of the top names from the world of pharmaceuticals, green tech, clean energy, infrastructure, food processing, agro industry and metals and minerals participated in an interactive session in Hyderabad where senior bureaucrats from Bengal showcased the investment potential of the state.

The meeting, the third in a row after Delhi and Chennai, came ahead of the sixth edition of the Bengal Global Business Summit, which is slated to take place on April 20-21 in Calcutta.

The state delegation of bureaucrats, led by West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation chairman Rajiva Sinha, held 19 one-on-one meetings with select investors who showed willingness to mine business prospects in Bengal. While the Bengal bureaucrats visited the facility of India’s leading pharmaceutical company Dr Reddy’s and met with the company’s CEO, top managers and business leaders from Shriram Group, Greenko, Sun Edison, Gayatri Group and Ramky Infrastructures came for exclusive meetings, among many others.

“We have received good response from all our interactions so far in three cities. Many of the people we met told us that they have been approached for the first time by officials from Bengal scouting for investment and they expressed willingness to explore opportunities in the state,” Sinha said after the day-long event in Hyderabad which was organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce.

Sinha was accompanied by Subrata Gupta, additional chief secretary for food processing industry and horticulture, Barun Kumar Ray, principal secretary in the department of labour, P. Mohan Gandhi, chairman and MD of West Bengal Mining Development & Trading Corporation and Randhir Kumar, secretary in the department of IT & electronics.

The potential investors were also invited to attend the BGBS, which is going to be the first physical investment summit in India after the pandemic. Sinha said the state already received overwhelming response for participation.

During the interactive session, investors had specific queries on the state government policies and investment opportunities in various sectors.

Some of the attendees also were eager to find out if there are fiscal incentives available in the state.

Sinha highlighted how the state has developed physical infrastructure in the last 10 years and also empowered common people by various social schemes. He also pointed out the geographical advantage of Bengal which investors can tap into.

“More than 120 people participated in the open session. The one-on-one meetings were productive too,” Rajiv Singh, director general of ICC, said in the evening.

The open session also saw Vikash Agarwal, director of Rupa and Apurva Salarpuria, director of Salarpuria group, sharing their experience in Bengal.