Former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly has been named the brand ambassador of West Bengal by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
"Sourav Ganguly is a very popular figure in our state and can inspire and work for our young generations in a big way. I want to involve him as the brand ambassador of Bengal,” Banerjee said in her address at the seventh Global Business Summit which began in Kolkata on Tuesday.
“We must be positive and constructive,” Banerjee said as she handed over the certificate to Ganguly, a former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
The chief minister took potshots at the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and said people in West Bengal are not divided based on communities.
"Our national anthem, which was written by Rabindra Nath Tagore, says that we are all together. We (the TMC government) don't raise artificial walls between people. We are one from the heart despite being home to people from multiple cultures and ethnicities," Banerjee was quoted as saying by ANI.
In her address, the chief minister announced a slew of new policies including plans to double the state's exports, modernise its logistics and promote renewable energy manufacturing.
Taking a swipe at the Narendra Modi government, Banerjee alleged that West Bengal was not getting any financial support from the Centre.
“We are not getting our share of GST and wages under MGNREGA scheme have been stopped,” she said.
The two-day summit, an annual affair, is being attended by several hundred companies from 35 countries, including UK, US, Australia, Korea, Japan, Germany and France.
