BJP govt will restore industrial ecosystem in Bengal within 10 years: Gajendra Singh Shekhawat

Shekhawat made the comment during the post-budget analysis organised by International Chamber of Business and Industry (ICBI).

The Union Cabinet Minister said, "Sea ports, infrastructure, electricity, water, lands, raw materials, and workforce are needed for manufacturing industries.  West Bengal and Kolkata have all of them in surplus. But the state is lacking an ecosystem. This is the reason Kolkata, which was once the financial capital of India, is now trailing behind Hyderabad and Bengaluru.

"It is our responsibility to restore that ecosystem. I think the way Narendra Modi ji is looking after West Bengal, we will be able to restore that ecosystem. If we can restore that, the BJP government (if BJP wins in upcoming elections) will restore the ecosystem in 10 years."

On disinvestment drive by the Narendra Modi government in the budget, Shekhawat, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said, "In the initial years of an Independent India, all things were manufactured by the government companies. But things have changed.

"Ultimately, the government will have to move on from these issues. The government gives up stakes in all sectors slowly with the evolution of a country. It is a part of that process."

The doing away of the monopoly of service providers of electricity is the most striking reform brought by the budget, felt Shekhawat, who is campaigning for the BJP in poll-bound West Bengal to unseat the Trinamool Congress.

Amid the pandemic and riding on the call for a self-reliant (Atmanirbhar) India, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented this year's budget on Feb 1 with substantial focus on healthcare and vaccine, while exempting pensioners  above 75 years from filing Income Tax, keeping the personal IT unchanged and announcing infrastructural funds for poll-bound states like Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Kerala.

Delivering her budget amid Covid-19, the Finance Minister announced Rs. 35,000 crore for Covid-19 vaccines this year.

She stressed that two more indigenous vaccines, apart from Covishield and Covaxin, will be available in the market to combat the contagion.

In another push for privatisation, Sitharaman on Monday announced a strategic disinvestment in two public sector banks other than IDBI Bank and one insurance company in the next fiscal year.

"Disinvestment target in FY 2021-2022 is 1.75 lakh crore," she said.

"Rs 20,000 cr for recapitalisation of govt banks," she added.