Raje: Fresh salvo

Jaipur, Nov. 30: Vasundhara Raje has moved from Nasreen to Nandigram to rub salt into the Left Front government’s wounds.

“Nandigram should never have happened,” the chief minister told potential investors, assuring them it would not occur in Rajasthan.

“Here we are working towards making people staying within the SEZ area to want and wish for the development of SEZ themselves,” she said on the first day of Resurgent Rajasthan, a two-day meet.

The comments come within days of Rajasthan accusing Bengal of forcing Taslima Nasreen on it without notice and refusing to take her back.

Many investors, including some from Bengal, gave Vasundhara the thumbs up.

Calcutta-based M.K. Jalan of Keventer Agro told The Telegraph: “I had come here only 20 days back and… I have already signed an MoU for the largest dairy farming deal worth Rs 400 crore. The 100-acre land deal near Jaipur is likely to be finalised in 2-3 days. The chief minister personally took interest and had a one-to-one with me today. I am very bullish about the state.”

Yesterday, Infosys had expressed concern at the slow pace of work in Bengal.

Jalan said there is “no land left to expand in Bengal”.

But Siddharth Birla, who has a plastic unit, Xpro India Ltd, in Bankura district, said: “I am very happy about the industrial climate. Work ethic has definitely improved. When you think of long-term investment, Bengal comes to mind. Incidents like Nandigram are not permanent.”

Vasundhara received 242 proposals worth Rs 155,077 crore today. Honda Siel, Reliance, Fortis and Genpact are participating in the meet.

But many projects hyped in the past are yet to roll. ONGC and Cairn refinery’s Rs 12,000-crore project is caught in tax wrangles. A Rs 1,100-crore Ambuja Cement plant is waiting to take off as farmers are complaining of inadequate compensation. Mahindra World City, a 3,000-acre SEZ, has been stalled by farmers’ protests.