In clear signal to investors, Buddha, team plan US trips

The plans are that his will be the culmination of a series of visits by other ‘‘industry-friendly’’ ministers from his state, apparently to test the ground and allow other Bengal ministers and officials to do the homework on how to attract US investment before the CM moves in. These will be in the nature of preparatory visits, and will also include trips by industry associations.

According to a Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official, on the cards is a complete ‘‘roadmap for the US’s substantive engagement’’ with the West Bengal government. As a result, there are no dates as yet for Bhattacharjee’s trip to the US, but the first high-level trip to the US is likely to be by Industry Minister Nirupam Sen, the No.2 in the Bengal cabinet.

There is also an Indian interest that there are no hiccups even as the so-called roadmap is being charted out for the US’s engagement with the Left bastion. So Ronen Sen, India’s Ambassador to the US, is expected to be home in mid-December with plans to schedule a meeting with the West Bengal CM.

His efforts, as well as that of US diplomats doing the groundwork for the visits by Bengal ministers, will also be to gauge the mood of the Left in the state, and how they perceive such visits. The Americans are aware that Opposition from within the Left on some issues are capable of derailing initiatives and they want to tread carefully on the Bhattacharjee visit.

There was some cheer when after a meeting between Bhattacharjee and US envoy David Mulford in Kolkata on Thursday, the CM said differences could not last for all time.

The Americans are also keen to engage the CPM’s top leadership in New Delhi and have made a request to meet them. The apparent keenness from both sides for the trip to the US could be attributed on the one side to Bengal’s anxiety not to be among the last Indian states to court big ticket American investment and from the US business point of view, there is an interest in the state’s development plans covering industry, information technology and chemicals.

When the CM met Mulford, industrial development is said to have taken up a substantial part of the discussions.

In fact, Industry Minister Sen had last December made a presentation to major US oil companies at a top hotel in the Capital on the setting up of a chemical hub in the state. Bhattacharjee was also present at the meeting.

On the IT sector front, Minister Debesh Das wants Bengal to provide 10 to 15 per cent of the country’s total IT revenue — it now stands at around 3 per cent. “We are late starters in IT, but we have the advantage of infrastructure in terms of power, housing and connectivity,” Das said.

Sources said both sides plan to move on the issue steadily so as not to ruin the script. There had been news of Bhattacharjee’s visit to the US earlier this year, but that never materialized.