US to treat W Bengal as partner state for investment: Mamata

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee today said the US has agreed to treat West Bengal as a partner state for investment.

Banerjee told the media after an approximately hour-long meeting with visiting secretary of state hillary Clinton the US would invest in West Bengal reversing past policy.

This was the first-ever visit by a US secretary of state to Writers' Buildings to hold a meeting with a chief minister.

 "As per partner state, they will invest in West Bengal, which was not taking place due to the political situation in the past," she said. "They will give full support for economic and business development,"

She said that the areas identified for US investment were IT, software sector, manufacturing, deep sea port, tourism, health care and education.

According to Banerjee state chief secretary Samar Ghosh and US Ambassador to India Nancy Powell would coordinate and monitor the progress.