KOLKATA, APRIL 6: West Bengal Commerce & Industries Minister Nirupam Sen, who has just been inducted into the CPM politburo at the party congress in Coimbatore, has decided to visit Germany to woo big industry.

Sources in Sen’s office said he is leaving for Germany on April 10 on a ten-day visit that will take him to five cities — Munich, Hannover, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Berlin. Accompanying him will be Sabyasachi Sen, Principal Secretary in the department, and M V Rao, Managing Director of West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation.

The itinerary and details of meetings will be finalised on Monday by Sen who returned to Kolkata from Coimbatore on Friday night. The visit has been arranged by the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce & Industry. B G Roy, Regional Director of the Chamber, said he would be able to release the final list of Sen’s appointments after Monday.

CPM sources said Sen was scheduled to visit the US late last year but the Nandigram fallout resulted in criticism of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s plans to attract foreign capital. Considered Bhattacharjee’s No. 2 in the Cabinet, Sen too invited flak. His US trip was cancelled at the last moment.

Sen has discussed his proposed German visit with Bhattacharjee and the party and has got the go-ahead.

Deliberations at the Coimbatore congress have cleared the air within the CPM on Bhattacharjee’s open invitation to private capital, foreign or domestic. Party sources said CPM general secretary Prakash Karat has endorsed Bhattacharjee’s stand on the “colour” of capital. This has strengthened Sen’s position.

The sources pointed out that Sen’s appointment as a politburo member has added strength to the voice for reform. Moreover, the uproar over Nandigram and Singur have died down to a great extent. “If this German visit is successful without attracting criticism in the state, then we can consider the US visit later,” said a senior CPM leader.

The main areas of interest for German companies here are engineering, especially heavy engineering, and chemicals. Roy said the Chamber does not compile statewise figures for German foreign direct investment in India but the total new investment last year was close to $1 billion.