AGARTALA:
Chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb met industrialists from Loas to study the industrial prospects of agarwood, the annual turnover generated from the industry and the feasibility of future investments, in Agartala on May 9.
“I had a meeting with the industrialists from Laos who have come here to study the potential of agar industry in the state. The company has an annual turnover of Rs 5,000 crore and the foreign industrialists are eager to make private investment in our state,” Deb said, addressing the Kabi Pranam event to mark the 161st birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore in Agartala.
He informed that the team gave a detailed presentation on how can the agarwood industry be levered for greater revenue and investments.
Deb, however, lashed out at the then Left Front government for not encouraging the local communities on agar trade.
“Without any support from the Left Front government, the locals planted 70 lakh agar trees in the state,” he said, adding that, after coming to power, the BJP government granted permission to export 25,000 metric tons of the agar wood.