Bengal witnessed major jump in export; surge in lending to MSMEs also one of the reasons: Dr Amit Mitra

Kolkata, Sept 13 (KNN) West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra claimed that the state has witnessed a major jump in export during Mamata Banerjee's two terms and surge in lending to micro, small and medium enterprises is one of the reasons behind this growth.

He was addressing the annual general meeting of Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday.

Mitra said export from Bengal was Rs 30,644 crore in 2010-11 when the new dispensation assumed office. The peak export was Rs 63,731 crore, which was achieved in 4 years after the new government took charge.

"It shows that there is a huge potential of export from our state," he added.

The main export items include leather, software, jewellery along with others. He said surge in lending to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) is one of the reasons behind this growth.

The state has witnessed compounded MSME lending of Rs 1.30 lakh crore during 2011-12 to 2016-17. The target of state level bankers committee for MSME lending was Rs 31,000 crore which has been raised to Rs 38,000 crore for this year, he added.