Hill hopes high over summit

Vivek Chhetri, TT,  Mar 13, 2018 :Darjeeling: The Bengal chief minister will on Tuesday inaugurate the first ever business meet to attract investments to the Darjeeling hills whose economic mainstay is limited to tea and tourism sectors at present.

Mamata Banerjee will launch the two-day Hill Business Summit at Chowrastha here. The summit is being organised by the state government in collaboration with the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration and the Confederation of Indian Industries.

"A total of 250 delegates will attend the meet. Various sessions have been lined up at different places around the Mall," said a GTA official.

Mamata reached Darjeeling around 6pm on Monday and she was welcomed by Binay Tamang, the chairman of the board of administrators to run the GTA.

"The hills have been starved of investment. This is a golden opportunity for all of us and we are confident that the first ever such initiative will be a boon for the coming generation. I would like to thank chief minister Mamata Banerjee for taking the initiative to hold the meet in Darjeeling," said Tamang.

"We are trying to explore opportunities in other fields like healthcare, medicinal plants, floriculture and horticulture," he added.

The Darjeeling Chamber of Commerce has thanked the government for the initiative.