Kolkata, Aug 1 (PTI) West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday sought the details of the amount spent in holding Bengal Global Business Summit, an event the Mamata Banerjee government has been organising each year since 2015 to attract investments to the state.

Expressing concern about fiscal irregularities and patronage over holding the programme, Dhankhar in a tweet said there was an assertion that the investment generated on the ground is less than the spending incurred in organising the events annually.

Also Read | Kolkata Police Bust Fake COVID-19 Testing Racket, 3 Arrested.

Dhankhar asked the Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) to furnish him with details about the summit.

"Sought details from ACS Finance Re: Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) @MamataOfficial in view of issues of concern raised. Assertion is that even amount spent in BGBS is more than the investment generated on ground. Issues of Fiscal irregularities and patronage also raised," Dhankhar tweeted.

Also Read | Karnataka: Siddamma, 110-Year-Old Woman Was Discharged Today From COVID Hospital in Chitradurga: Live News Breaking And Coronavirus Updates on August 1, 2020.

The governor wanted to know how much money has been spent each year since 2016 in holding the summit and the name of the agency/agencies through which spending has been made for organizing BGBS."

He also sought to know "the name of event company for BGBS and whether payment was made directly or through FICCI, besides the number of MoUs signed, investment and jobs promised in each of the annual events.

Dhankhars last query was on the achievements made in the BGBS -- actual investments made and jobs created.

Opposition parties such as the BJP and the CPI(M) earlier separately expressed scepticism over holding the summit claiming it did not yield any worthwhile investment from names that matter in the industry, which was strongly rebutted by Finance Minister Amit Mitra.

The opposition had also demanded publication of a white paper on the actual investment that came from the summit.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said in Assembly that 50 per cent of the investment proposals that were received in the five editions of BGBS are already in the process of implementation.

The next edition of BGBS would be held from December 15 to 17, the finance minister had announced before the coronavirus pandemic set in.

The development came days after Dhankhar wrote to the chief minister slamming her for lodging "unwarranted" complaints against him to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In a letter on July 28, he said that he does have stakes in the governance of the state and none in politics.

During an online programme where the prime minister inaugurated new COVID-19 testing facilities in West Bengal, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, Banerjee alleged that "a few people holding constitutional posts" are disturbing the state government regularly, apparently hinting at Dhankhar.

The governor had frequent run-ins with the government over several issues including law and order, ration for the poor and education.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)