By IANS,
Kolkata : Indonesia’s Salim Group, which is investing in various projects in West Bengal, including a chemical hub, would also explore the possibility of pumping in money in the state’s food processing and healthcare sectors.
Salim Group chairman Anthony Salim conveyed this to Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee during a meeting at the state secretariat Friday.
“The chief minister told Salim that the state’s food processing sector was growing and needed more investment. Salim said he would look into it,” Industry Secretary Sabyasachi Sen, who was present at the meeting, told reporters later.
Bhattacharjee made the request after Salim informed him that the group was already involved in food processing in China and Vietnam.
The chief minister also urged Salim to set up a college of nursing in the state. The group is running five hospitals and a nursing training college in the Philippines.
“The group has taken advantage of the abundance of English-speaking people there. Salim commented such an opportunity also existed in India,” Sen said.
Salim gave the chief minister an idea of his company’s global operations and expressed satisfaction at the progress of his projects in the state.
According to Sen, Salim told Bhattacharjee that he was keen to see that the proposed petroleum, chemicals and petrochemical investment regions (PCPIR) at Nayachar near Haldia, materialise.
“Salim said his group was committed to developing the necessary infrastructure, including the captive thermal power plant, for which coal would be imported from Indonesia,” the industry secretary said.
In reply to a question, he said although the issue of land acquisition for the ongoing projects of the Salim Group had not been discussed, the group chairman assured the chief minister of his commitment to proceed with the projects by building consensus with the local people.