Thursday

17


October , 2019
CHAMBER NEWS
14:09 pm

B.E. Bureau


 

CII organised the 12th Banking Colloquium in Kolkata

The banking colloquium, held in September, covered the technical session on Emerging Trends in Corporate Finance, New Resolution Mechanism, and Traditional vs New Vistas of Finance. It also saw the release of a report on ‘Turnaround in the Indian Banking Sector – A Fact Check’.

At the inaugural session, Dr Bibek Debroy, Chairman, Economic Advisory Council – Prime Minister, Government of India, while giving a macroeconomic overview, emphasised that there is significant volatility in the rates of growth and one quarter of 5% growth in GDP does not change the trajectory. He added that the real growth rate would be 8 – 8.5% and to reach to that, the components or ‘prisms’ would be public expenditure, consumption, investments and net exports. The focus also needs to be more on the agriculture space.

Dinesh Kumar Khara, Managing Director, State Bank of India, speaking about bank mergers said that though this phenomenon is the ‘most sensitive topic’, the mega merger, announced by the Finance Minister, Government of India, is aimed at ‘creating a robust banking system with global reach’ which will take the dream of a $5 trillion dollar economy a step forward.

Sonjoy Chatterjee, Chairman & Co CEO, Goldman Sachs said that in the global markets there is a high demand for India and there are growth opportunities. Sunil Kanoria, Vice Chairman, Srei Infrastructure Finance Ltd also concurred with Chatterjee that there are opportunities to grow across sectors.

The 14th Healthcare East took place on 26 September 2019

“The Government of West Bengal’s emphasis on improving the healthcare services of the state is reflected in a steep upward curve of the healthcare spend budget going from Rs 3584 crores in 2011 to Rs 9557 crores in 2019,” Binod Kumar, Secretary, Department of Health & Family Welfare, Government of West Bengal said at the inaugural of the 14th Healthcare East organized by CII in Kolkata. Speaking about making healthcare affordable in the state, Kumar spoke about the Swasthya Sathi scheme in West Bengal which brings 75 million of the state’s population under its coverage with Rs 5 lakhs per annum health benefit for a family which include parents of both the spouses, a unique initiative in the country.

Giving his special address, Dr Girdhar J Gyani, Director General, Association of Healthcare Providers (India) said that India’s ranking of 130 out of 189 countries in Human Development Index (HDI) and 112 out of 191 countries in the WHO ratings on healthcare deliveries is mostly due to availability of doctors and beds and accessibility of super speciality hospitals in Tier II, Tier III cities. This, according to the DG, is an area of concern and needs to be dealt with.

Conference on Value Chain Development of Construction & Infrastructure Sector organised by CII

The conference on Value Chain Development of Construction & Infrastructure Sector was organized by CII in Kolkata in September, 2019. During the special plenary, Dr Amit Mitra, Minister in Charge, Departments of Industry Commerce & Enterprise, Finance, Micro Small & Medium Enterprises & Textile, Government of West Bengal, emphasised to the stakeholders that with a year on year (YoY) growth in the sale of residential units in the state, the materials going into the real estate space be made in West Bengal.

Dr Mitra elaborated that in 2018-19, real estate had a total institutional investment of $38 million with a GDP contribution being almost 10% and ranking the 2nd largest employer and this space ‘needs a big boost and partnership with the government’. The Finance Minister of West Bengal said, “Though the Non Banking Financial Institutions (NBFCs) crisis has led to a liquidity crunch in the sector, it is heartening to see a sale hike of the Indian residential market on a YoY basis and that affordable housing is doing well in West Bengal.”

Dr Mitra announced that the Government of West Bengal would like to come up with an exclusive Building Material Manufacturing & Supply Chain Park in Panagarh where the Government would initially give 100 acres of land and proposed that CII partner with the stakeholders to market the park and also look at scaling up investment. The conference also had deliberations on Building Material Park: Overcoming Demand and Supply Challenges and the availability of modern construction materials and equipment.

 

 

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