Kolkata, Sep 23 (IANS): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday, thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Biden for the proposed joint-collaboration semiconductor manufacturing unit in Kolkata which was finalised during the PM’s tour to America.

According to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the proposal was a result of relentless promotion by the West Bengal government.

According to CM Banerjee, since early last year, the state information technology department and the state-undertaking Webel (West Bengal Electronics Industry Development Corporation) approached leading semiconductor industries as many chip-designing and packaging start-up companies had relocated to the various information technology parks of Webel after the COVID pandemic.

“Global Foundries, Synopsis, Micron and a few other leading international semiconductor companies held a number of technology-symposiums in West Bengal. They visited our units and offices to discuss emerging technologies and investment potential,” the Chief Minister informed.

According to her, this year the state government-sponsored VLSI Conference 2024, held in Kolkata witnessed participation of all leading giants from the semiconductor industries.

“Hence, continuous deliberations coupled with successful promotion of the state’s capacity have thus led to Global Foundries’ recent proposal to set up a Global Capability Centre in Kolkata.

“I assure all support to the emerging investment in this frontier sector. Let West Bengal be the true destination for knowledge-based industries,” the Chief Minister added.

Industry observers believe that the proposed joint collaboration semiconductor manufacturing unit in the state will bring a bit of relief to the state government regarding industrial investments.

The common criticism against the Trinamool Congress government is that although every year the annual Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) and the state government claim to have attracted lakhs of crores of investment proposals, the implementation of those proposals were hardly visible.