The Hindu : New Delhi News : West Bengal Plan put at Rs. 6476 cr.

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Feb 08, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

West Bengal Plan put at Rs. 6476 cr.

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, FEB.7. The Annual Plan of West Bengal for 2005-06, approved at a meeting between the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and the State Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, here on Monday, has been pegged at Rs 6,476 crores.

This, according to an official statement, includes Rs 100 crores as additional Central assistance for the State's priority schemes.

At the meeting, Dr Ahluwalia noted that Kolkata could be a gateway to South-East Asia and in this respect the Chief Minister's decision to set up a logistic hub in Kolkata-Haldia was a step in the right direction. He also informed Mr Bhattacharya that a Planning Commission team led by Anwarul Huda would shortly visit the State to assess the Central support required for the project.

The State Government, he said, should work for further expansion of the IT sector and make West Bengal a hub for healthcare, education and management services.

Commission Members drew the Chief Minister's attention to the Centre's efforts in substantially improving the infrastructure of the States. Kolkata airport for instance, it was noted, would be among the airports being taken up for upgradation in the second phase of the project. Similar programmes in sectors such roads and ports would also significantly help the State in modernising its physical infrastructure.

The Chief Minister was also informed that since the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, was keen on improving the urban infrastructure, a substantial hike in Central support was likely under this head.

The Commission is to shortly seek the views of all States in this regard as the programme will involve various reforms and devolution of powers to the authorities at the district level.

Initiating the discussions, Dr Ahluwalia, while hailing the State Government for the farm growth rate and its efforts to revive the financial health of the State, stressed that a special thrust on social and physical infrastructure development would help in creating an investment-friendly environment.

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