Mamata, Kejriwal And Mukesh Together In Bengal

This past weekend was personally and politically very satisfying. The successful conclusion of the Bengal Global Business Summit 2016, the sense of quiet optimism and confidence about the state's future and its economic prospects, the regard for the maturity with which the Mamata Banerjee government has gone about rebuilding the business environment over the past four-and-a-half years was all heartening. We have miles to go, but we have come a long way.

From Haryana to Karnataka to Gujarat, state business summits - events where states showcase their business potential and investment opportunities - are quite the norm now. Usually, they take place every two years. In West Bengal, we do it every year. There are two reasons for this. It helps us monitor the progress made since the previous summit and see how much of the promised investment has actually reached the ground. It is a reality check in the quickest possible time.

Besides that, Bengal had been reduced to such a mess by the CPI(M)-led government (1977-2011) that the Trinamool government had to make special efforts to revive the spirit and drive home the message that something new was happening. An annual business summit was part of this initiative.

This year the numbers stacked up nicely and Rs 250,000 crore was committed by a variety of Indian and international investors. But that was not all there was to the Summit. West Bengal sees itself as a link between the Indian market and the economies to the east of our country. Expanding on this gateway theme, the Bengal government invited the Prime Minister of Bhutan Tshering Tobgay, and a delegation from Bangladesh, led by Commerce Minister Tufail Ahmed, to make presentations at the Summit as partners of Bengal.

Following up on her meeting with Mamata Banerjee in Britain in 2015, Priti Patel, Minister of State for Employment in the David Cameron government and the Indian diaspora face of the Conservative Party, also participated. Incidentally, the Bhutanese Prime Minister has a strong Bengal connection, having studied at Dr Graham's School in Kalimpong, and recalled his many friends in Kolkata.

In keeping with the enlightened federal politics of our country, four union ministers were gracious enough to come - Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari. These crucial infrastructure ministries are betting big on Bengal and eastern India and Mamata Banerjee's government has been most cooperative in this regard.

Perhaps for the first time, the Chief Minister of a state participated in the business summit of another state. Arvind Kejriwal was the perfect guest but made his pitch for Delhi as a business city. Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister of Bihar, sent a minister-led team.

What struck me was how statesmanlike the interaction of politicians was on the dais, despite political differences. Some in the media were looking for a silly "Jaitley versus Kejriwal" story but the two men, experienced and tested in their own ways, maintained their dignity and were absolutely correct.

An array of leading businessmen came to Kolkata for the Summit. Mukesh Ambani, who launched the Jio telecom network in the city two years ago, was effusive enough to say, "Bengal ranks high in terms of ease of doing business." He had reason to say this. As Reliance has rolled out its optical fibre network, it has got cooperation from municipal corporations in Kolkata and other cities and from the state government. There has been no rent seeking or harassment.

In 2014, Jio set up a free wi-fi facility for all of Kolkata with no limits to the sites one could access. This was a teaser programme to encourage users to buy subscriptions. Yet, to me, it was revealing that free wi-fi was possible without restricting access to the Internet and limiting it to a few sites. It was an early lesson in the potentialities of net neutrality.

Yogi Deveshwar, the chairman of ITC, was very prominent at the Summit. The Kolkata-headquartered conglomerate is close to finishing the construction of a super-luxury hotel in the city, tentatively called the ITC Grand Bengal. This will be its second five-star property in Kolkata, after the ITC Sonar. One of the achievements of the Trinamool government has been to keep companies like ITC anchored in Kolkata. Through the turbulent Communist years, so many major business groups left Kolkata, exiting wholesale or reducing their headquarters to postal addresses, not functional centres. It could have happened to ITC too, but thankfully the mood has changed in the state government and in Virginia House. That is why, when Deveshwar said "Mamata Banerjee has nerves of steel and a heart of gold", those words carried such resonance.

Rather than a big hotel, Mamata Banerjee hosted the opening dinner for the dignitaries in the picturesque, 400-acre Eco Park, a lakeside recreation facility that is a favourite of Kolkata residents. There are 14 cottages here - ideal for holidaying families (let me promote tourism in my state!) - and one artiste cottage. Mamata Banerjee used the artiste cottage for her one-to-one meetings, perhaps the most aesthetic setting for business discussions.

It was a cool evening in Kolkata, Arvind Kejriwal's muffler wasn't enough and Mamata Banerjee gave him a shawl for extra cover. I discovered that Mukesh Ambani doesn't eat on Fridays, spending the day fasting but keeping himself going on only tea. I also discovered - re-discovered - the multiple skills of my party colleague, Amit Mitra, the indefatigable Finance and Industry Minister of West Bengal, who was the emcee for the whole Summit.

My personal takeaway from the Summit, besides the exhilaration and the fatigue, is a curiosity about Bhutan, a country I have never visited. Talking to the visiting Prime Minister, I was intrigued by the Happiness Index and of course the beauty of the country. Now we have a Druk Air flight that connects the spanking new Andal (Durgapur) airport to Paro. Maybe I need to get on that flight one of these weekends.

(Derek O'Brien is leader, Parliamentary party Trinamool Congress (RS), and Chief National spokesperson of the party)

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.