"Recent developments suggest that West Bengal is emerging as the new investment destination, which rekindles optimism about the future of the state. As of December 2011, the state had about 900 live investment projects worth INR6.11 lakh crore," Mukherjee said at a programme organised by ASSOCHAM in Kolkata.
"It (Bengal) has a share of 4.4 percent in the total investment announced by the government and the private sectors in India as of December 2011," he added.
The finance minister said the state had got INR58,000 crore new investment, which was a clear indication that the industrialists and prospective investors were looking at the state with both hope and expectations.
"The state attracted new investment worth INR58,000 crore. The manufacturing sector has got the major share - 36.5 percent of total live investment, this is followed by electricity (29.4 percent) and service sector (18.9 percent)," he said.
He said that with the change in the state government, there was a significant scope to improve policy environment to attract more capital.
"The political choice exercised by the people of Bengal in the last (assembly) elections clearly indicates their expectations for change and new aspirations. I am happy that the new government, under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee, is responding to this new aspirations and expectations of the people," Mukherjee added.