Will be industry-friendly once at Centre: Mamata

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Thursday that after the government at the Centre changes in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, a new policy to boost Indian industries will be implemented.

Her speech on the first day of the Bengal Global Business Summit was full of political overtones apart from a long list of her government's achievements in relation to industry.

The summit was attended by several industrialists, including Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani and JSW group chairman Sajjan Jindal.

"I know the problems you (industrialists) are facing. But I can assure you that after changing the government, we will introduce policy that will boost the Indian industry and the Indian economy," said Banerjee.

Pointing out that the Lok Sabha elections are just a few months away, Mamata urged all industrialists who have left the country to return and invest in India.

"We have to face the central election (Lok Sabha elections) within a couple of months...The fiends from industry who have left the country I request them to come back to the country and invest in India," said Banerjee.

Taking a dig at the erstwhile Left Front government, she alleged that Bengal suffered due to the loss of man-days during the Left era. Banerjee claimed that during the tenure of her government that issue has been resolved.

"Due to the 34 years of misrule by my predecessor, the Left Front government, the number of man-days lost at that time was about 75 lakhs. But now (after Trinamool Congress came to power), we are proud to say that no man-days have been lost,” said Banerjee.

The chief minister also said that Bengal has made significant progress in terms of infrastructure, skilled workers, land banks, uninterrupted power supply and is ahead of the rest of the country in several important fields.

"We achieved surplus revenue of 3% in March 2018 and India faced revenue deficit of about 17.9%," Mamata said.

She also said that Bengal’s industrial growth, growth in the service sector and agriculture is higher than the national average.

"When India lost 2 crore jobs in a year, Bengal reduced unemployment rates by 40%," Mamata said.