OFFERING a carrot, but conditions apply. The Left government in West Bengal has announced a new incentive policy for investors, linking it to jobs for locals.

The policy, for which a notification was issued on Thursday, says incentives would be given to investors who employ people from the state.

Till last year, the Government doled out the Industrial Promotion Allowance to investors only on the basis of capital investment. Now, IPA will be given on the basis of both investment and job generation. “While 50 per cent of the IPA will be given on the basis of investment, 50 per cent will be given on the basis of the number of people the entrepreneur employs. But these employees will have to be residents of West Bengal,” said Sabyasachi Sen, Principal Secretary, Department of Commerce and Industries. “The industrialists can hire people from outside the state. But if you want government assistance, you will have to recruit people from the state.”

For incentives, categories of investors and districts have been created. Kolkata has been put under Category 1, districts around it like Howrah in Category 2, those beyond them in Category 3. For those investing up to Rs 50 crore, if they invest in a Category B district they will get Rs 3.5 crore IPA; a Category C district will get Rs 4.5 crore.