Calcutta, Jan. 28: Bengal has received the highest number of investment proposals among all states in the third quarter of this fiscal, a study by Assocham Investment Meter said.

The total amount of investments proposed in the state is Rs 1,27,302 crore.

State finance minister Asim Dasgupta had recently said Bengal would soon take the second position among states in attracting investments.

The study revealed that during the period under review the states attracting most planned investments after Bengal were Orissa (Rs 53,997 crore), Maharashtra (Rs 47,393 crore), Tamil Nadu (Rs 25,195 crore) and Andhra Pradesh (Rs 21,660 crore).

Segments seeing heavy investments are metal and mines, steel, power and cement.

Of the total investments in Bengal, Rs 20,450 crore will be in power, Rs 17,133 crore in steel and Rs 4,850 crore in the oil and petroleum sector.

Assocham president Venugopal Dhoot said, “As the investment climate in India is favourable, mineral-rich states with investor friendly policies are drawing huge corporate interests.”

SAIL, the top potential investor in Bengal, has announced an investment of Rs 20,000 crore in Kulti and Durgapur to increase steel production.

L&T Power Development plans to invest Rs 20,000 crore in Haldia to increase its power generation capacity.

Orissa, which is rich in mineral resources and has many ports, has attracted the second-highest number of investment proposals with a total proposed amount of Rs 53,997 crore.