Losing the Nano had all but spelt curtains for new business in Bengal, but making Metro Cash & Carry happen has given the state a “second chance”, feels Bernd Muetzelburg, the German ambassador to India.

“The West Bengal government deserves a special vote of gratitude for allowing Metro to operate in Calcutta. Bengal is surely on the radar of German business,” the ambassador said on the sidelines of the annual meeting of Indo-German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC) eastern region members last week.

His buoyancy over Metro was echoed by Ranjit Pratap, the president of IGCC. “We have been trying to bring Metro Cash & Carry to Chennai for quite sometime now, but have run into too many roadblocks. Calcutta’s achievement is a huge one.”

Lauding the government’s efforts “to create an investor-friendly environment”, Muetzelburg stressed that Lufthansa’s decision to leave Calcutta was “a mistake they shouldn’t repeat”, and other German firms looking at cost-effective business should pick Bengal.

Most German firms have not shelved expansion plans in India, and there are quite a few SMEs waiting to come to Calcutta in partnership with local players, according to officials of IGCC, the largest bi-national chamber of commerce in the country with over 7,000 corporate members.

Acknowledging that the terror attack on Mumbai has left a deep scar not only on India but also the rest of the world, the envoy underlined the need for resilience.

“While it’s important to remain vigilant, we mustn’t over-learn our lessons from this tragedy, and India must not revert to the licence raj and the Hindu rate of growth. Of course, the next couple of months would be crucial, and if there’s a repeat attack somewhere, the impact could be quite permanent,” he said.

Mumbai-based Bernhard Steinruecke, the director-general of IGCC, however, preached zero-tolerance. “If these things don’t change and terror is not stamped out, German companies might not come here anymore,” he emphasised in his address.