Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister and CPM (Communist Party of India-Marxist) Politburo member Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today (Sep 29, 2004) said, there was no 'dichotomy' in the approach of Left front for FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) as proposed by the Central Government in certain sector.

"We are open to FDI in green field projects and I am trying my best to attract investment from within the country and outside and there is no dichotomy in our approach," Bhattacharjee said while speaking at 117th Annual General Meeting of Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Bhattacharjee said FDI was coming in the State and Japan's investment in the State was highest in India. In addition, IBM has come and many Italian companies are planning to come apart from those in Thailand, Malaysia and other South East Asian countries. "I am seriously trying to attract them."

He said that he had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh twice since formation of Government and on both the occasions he had made it clear that he had not come with charter of demand for the State, but to know his vision.

"The Prime Minister talked about agriculture sector and rural areas where we will have to perform and also on labour laws and PSUs. What I gather is that he is seriously trying to understand the problem of the country and trying to perform," Bhattacharjee said.

The Left was in agreement with almost major issues in Common Minimum Programme (CMP), but have some differences over PSUs and Labour laws and proposal for bifurcation of States.

"We feel that central PSUs were set up by the Central Government itself and they are making profit and are backbone of country's economy and so we are opposed to disinvestment of companies like ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation) and FDI in Telecom," he said.