Calcutta, Nov. 1: Mamata Banerjee will visit the US in July 2016 to scout for investments, Trinamul national spokesperson Derek O' Brien announced on Facebook this evening.

"In July 2016, Mamatadi has accepted an invitation from the US-India Business Council (USIBC) to visit the United States," O'Brien wrote.

The USIBC is an advocacy organisation representing American companies that have investments in India. The council facilitates India-US trade and investment.

"In the US, like in her other visits, Mamatadi will be focusing on investment and job creation in our state," O'Brien said.

Mamata has made five foreign trips since August last year. Of them, only the visits to Singapore and London can strictly be called investment-scouting missions as there is unlikely to be any investment flow from Bangladesh and Bhutan.

Although O'Brien rolled out a detailed account of Mamata's achievements during her foreign tours, referring to the meetings she held and the MoUs that were signed, there was no specific information on investment outcomes.

"Everyone knows that the trips yielded nothing for Bengal's industry. It is not surprising that specific achievements would not find a mention," said a senior official who did not wish to be named.

According to him, the government's intention of inviting investments failed to yield positive results because of the hands-off land policy and the chief minister's rigid stand on the urban land ceiling and the special economic zone status.

"One or two meetings, like the ones the chief minister had with the Singapore Prime Minister and Prince Andrew of London, can always be organised for any visiting dignitary. But that cannot be shown as achievements when the focus is industry and job creation," the official said.

While the tenor of O'Brien's post was how Mamata had successfully wooed foreigners and foreign capital, Trinamul sources said it captured the chief minister's desperation as she had little to show on the industrial front.

The timing of the announcement, coinciding with Mamata's launch of preparations for the 2016 Assembly polls, made it clear the chief minister was trying to highlight that she had got an invitation from a trade body in the US.

Mamata got the invitation from USIBC chief Ajay Banga on July 1. Sources said the announcement was made nine months before the scheduled visit to thwart criticism over Bengal's sloppy industrial growth.

"The Opposition may try to nail her by saying that Bengal is lagging in industry. But in the election season, she can always claim that she is getting invitations from the US and the UK because of the positive developments in Bengal," a Trinamul source said.

The fact that O'Brien used quotes from several industrialists close to Mamata strengthened suggestions that Trinamul was trying to fight the notion that investments had eluded Bengal.

Industrialists generally try to be politically correct and heap praise on the government in power.

The teams of industrialists that had accompanied Mamata on her foreign trips had tried their best to convince their counterparts in Singapore and London about the investment potential in Bengal.

"The chief minister is aware that nothing is happening and she realises that she needs industry. So, she is also trying to send out a signal that industry would be her priority if voted back to power," an official said.

Reacting to the chief minister's proposed US visit, Trinamul secretary-general Partha Chatterjee told The Telegraph: "Her maiden US trip is a matter of pride for all of us. We hope that her trip will open up investment opportunities for the state."

CPM politburo member Mohammad Salim said tonight that Bengal had got a chief minister "who is busy without business".

"The chief minister's US visit will be another of her pleasure trips. I am sure this visit too will not bring any investment to the state," he said.

Bengal BJP chief Rahul Sinha said: "Mamata is not confident about returning to power. This has prompted her to plan the US trip. She is not sure of victory because of her alienation from people."

Former state Congress chief Pradip Bhattacharya said the chief minister's US visit would "prove ineffective because she won't be able to bring any investments to the state".