Hill business interest claim

Binay Tamang with Mamata at the summit

Vivek Chhetri, TT, Jan 17, 2018, Darjeeling: Binay Tamang has said top industrialists from within India and abroad showed keen interest in the Darjeeling hills and confirmed their participation in a business meet that the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration is slated to hold here in February.

Tamang, the chairman of the board of administrators (BoA) of the GTA, met investors from around the world at the Bengal Global Business Summit held in Calcutta on Tuesday and Wednesday.

This is the first time that a man helming an autonomous authority in the hills has been invited by the Bengal government to a business session.

Tea and tourism are the mainstay of the hill economy but both the sectors are in tatters at present.

"We have received positive feedback from industrialists both from the country and abroad and they are keen to attend our business meet, which has been scheduled for February," Tamang said over the phone on Wednesday.

Tamang, who was accompanied by Anit Thapa, the vice-chairman of the BoA, said most of the industrialists had told them that they had never visited Darjeeling and were keen to explore the area. "When we invited the investors, most said they had not visited Darjeeling before. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee was with us when we extended the invitation to them," said Tamang.

Tamang didn't say which investor from what sector would attend the GTA business meet.

The exact date of the GTA event will be finalised after consulting all stakeholders and participants.

Apart from attracting investments to bring in high-end tourists to the hills, the GTA believes, there is ample scope to develop other sectors like floriculture, horticulture, food processing and medicinal plants.

In the past, not much effort had been taken by those in power in the hills to invite industrialists, whereas Sikkim has managed to get investments in the hill state over the years.

"We are now trying our best to streamline things in the hills so that we can attract investments, which will go a long way in addressing the unemployment issue," said Tamang, who attended sessions on health, tourism, agriculture and infrastructure during the two-day global business summit.