By IANS,
Kolkata : Post Nandigram and Singur fiascos, West Bengal slipped to 13th position in 2008 from fourth in the previous year among India’s major investment-centric states, according to a paper brought out by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham).
The paper highlights that the state received robust investment announcements worth Rs.2,434.89 billion in calendar year 2007, which fell to a meagre Rs.900.95 billion last year.
The paper, West Bengal – The Investment Destination 2009, has been released here by Assocham secretary general D.S. Rawat, who said the state slid by a whopping 63 percent in calendar 2008 as compared to 2007 in terms of expression of investment plans by India Inc.
According to Rawat, widespread protests against land acquisition for industry in Nandigram and Singur are entirely responsible for the state’s decline as an attractive investment destination.
“The effects of economic slowdown, credit crunch along with the Singur saga also spelled trouble for the region in drawing investors as infrastructure developments got delayed,” he said.