SUBRATA NAGCHOUDHURY

KOLKATA, SEPTEMBER 18: FOREIGN trips to woo investments had become an annual feature of former Chief Minister Jyoti Basu’s 24-year rule in Bengal. Following in his footsteps, his successor Buddhadeb Bhattacharya set out on Sunday on his maiden foreign tour to Japan on a week-long visit to look for foreign investments.

But, while Basu always headed towards the West, Buddhadeb has chosen his destination in the East — Japan. His decision to visit Japan appears to be a conscious, calculated one. He is careful not to invite the same criticism Basu had invited after his successive visits but with largely unsuccessful outcome to the UK and the USA.
Basu’s foreign trips in search of investment had become something of a joke among political opponents who branded them as ‘‘pleasure trips’’. They said Basu’s trips, totalling not less than a score, were given an official status simply to cover the expenses. During Basu’s tenure, the WBIDC chairman and CPI(M) MP, Somnath Chatterjee, was accused of the same ‘‘game’’ of taking big industry teams overseas without any perceptible benefits.

In the last Assembly session, for example, in a written answer to a question posed by an Opposition member, the state Commerce and Industries Minister said that the WBIDC chairman had undertaken six foreign trips in the past five years at a cost of Rs 22.28 lakh to the exchequer. And to a supplementary regarding the total investment raised out of these trips, the government dodged a straight answer and instead noted: ‘‘The purpose of these trips was to promote the state among foreign investors and to build a positive image of West Bengal for attracting foreign collaborators.’’

Buddhadeb, in contrast, is on safe ground. The Japanese record of investments in West Bengal is fairly impressive. In the past decade, the state has witnessed Japanese investments in the following areas:

• A Japanese loan of over Rs 1,200 crore for the Bakreswar thermal power plant.
  
• Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC), a Fortune 500 company, has set up a plant to make 3,50,000 tonne a year of purified terephthalic acid (PTA) at Haldia with an investment of Rs 1,600 crore.
• Over Rs 400 crore financial assistance through Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) to improve the road infrastructure in Kolkata by building a series of critical
  flyovers.

Having analysed the nature of investments, industry circles in Kolkata say that the Japanese investment in the PTA project in Haldia was aimed at tapping a huge market in North-East India, Bangladesh and other neighbouring countries. PTA is an intermediary for synthetic fibres and has a huge untapped market. There is no denying the fact that Kolkata happens to be a big market and is also a potentially viable hub for exploiting the region’s market.

The other two substantial investments — in power and road infrastructure sector — are said to be dictated by Japan’s own internal economic compulsions. These investments are avenues for engaging associate Japanese companies and personnel. The sources point out that in the Bakreswar project, for example, Bhel and Itochu were engaged as project consultants. Similarly, in the road infrastructure flyover project, Yachio Corporation is engaged as a consultant.

In fact, it would not be surprising if the Japanese decide to come in a bigger way in infrastructure development, which, according to the new Left Front government, is one of the priority thrust areas.
Buddhadeb’s observations, according to party sources, are also significant. The party mouthpiece Ganashakti quoted Buddhadeb as saying that: ‘‘With the Japanese undergoing an economic slump, this is probably the best time to woo investments from them.’’ From today, Buddhadeb will talk with Mitsubishi, Electric Power Development Corporation, Marubeni, Suzuki, and some others. He will also interact with the Indo-Japan Business Cooperation, Japan Federation of Economic Organisations, and officials from Japanese Industry and Commerce Ministry.

‘‘With reasonable Japanese presence in Bengal, Buddhadeb is on a win-win situation,’’ said a party colleague. But he is certainly on a sticky pitch for his comments before departure. When asked why he was taking such a small team to Japan (he is accompanied only by his secretary A.K. Deb, CII representative Tarun Das and will be joined by R.P. Goenka) in sharp contrast to bigger visits earlier, Buddhadeb said: ‘‘It’s simply because I am going on business.’’