Police try to block a BJP delegation that included the party’s national vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and state president Rahul Sinha from proceeding towards Makhra village in Birbhum on Thursday afternoon. The delegation leaders were eventually arrested a few kilometres away from Makhra and later released; Mamata Banerjee at Gangasagar on Thursday. Pictures by Indrajit Roy and Sanat Kr Sinha

Gangasagar, Oct. 30: Only 12 of the 40-odd industrialists who had been invited to be part of Mamata Banerjee’s team on her trip to Gangasagar joined the chief minister today.

The industrialists who had been invited to the trip, being organised to showcase the tourism potential of the island, had been part of the delegation that had gone to Singapore along with the chief minister

The Telegraph had reported on October 23 that some of the industrialists had said they would be unavailable for the boat trip, organised by the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC), as they would be “travelling” on October 30 and 31.

The notable absentees today included Sanjiv Goenka, Harsh Neotia, Karan Paul, Utsav Parekh and C.K. Dhanuka, among others. Some of them had earlier said they would be abroad during this period.

Some of the 40-odd industrialists had said they would not be able to participate in the trip because they would attend an event in Delhi to promote Biswa Banga Sammelan, a global investors’ meet that the Mamata government is planning in early January. Neotia has been listed among those who would address the Delhi event. Finance and industries minister Amit Mitra, who had played a key role in the five-day Singapore trip to court investment, is scheduled to be present in the capital tomorrow for the session.

Mamata took a Coast Guard hovercraft from Millennium Park in Calcutta this afternoon and travelled 55 nautical miles to Gangasagar. The industrialists had reached Gangasagar earlier in a yacht. After getting off her vessel, the chief minister met the businessmen, who were waiting in a tent, and then hopped onto an SUV for a drive down the beach. The industrialists and a battery of bureaucrats, including chief secretary Sanjay Mitra, followed in cars.

Industrialists at Gangasagar on Thursday; the beach at the island. Pictures by Sanat Kr Sinha

The convoy stopped at two locations and Mamata held impromptu discussions with the industrialists and officials about developing tourism infrastructure.

The chief minister said the beach had been divided into three clusters for development of tourism. “We will appoint transaction advisers to carry out a global bid and award the project,” Mamata said at a rally later.

She requested the industrialists to be part of the project, whose details have not been made public.

However, the team that accompanied the chief minister had only a few hospitality industry executives and one hotelier. Mamata requested them to tell their acquaintances about the proposed project.

Asked for comments, some industrialists said the area had good tourism potential if infrastructure was put in place. “There are hundreds of such beaches in India. There are many in Bengal too. If this place has to be developed, connectivity from Calcutta has to be improved. The roads are narrow and congested. And there are issues in crossing the river as well,” said an industrialist. During low tide every day, the waters of the Hooghly near Gangasagar become too shallow for navigation for six hours.

After the beach trip, Mamata visited Kapilmuni’s ashram on the island. At the public meeting later, she announced the tourism project and a deep-sea port. Mamata said the state and the Centre would spend Rs 12,000 crore to build the port at Gangasagar.

After the rally, the chief minister held a closed-door meeting with some of the businessmen and sought investment. Mamata will embark on the second leg of the tourism-development trip, to Jharkhali on the southeast fringes of the Sunderbans, on December 8-9.

Those who represented industry today were Mayank Jalan of Keventer; Sanjay Agarwal of Century Ply; Sanjay Budhia of Patton; developers Harsh Patodia, R.R. Modi and Sumit Dabriwala; Sinclairs owner Navin Suchanti; Rudra Chatterjee of Luxmi Tea; Ravi Poddar of Ravi Auto; and general managers of ITC Sonar and The Park.