West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra today wrote to Union Minister Arun Jaitley urging him not to shift the headquarters of National Insurance Company from the city.
"After the announcement of the merger of the three public sector insurance companies in the union budget this year I am apprehensive that the headquarters of the National Insurance Company Ltd might now be shifted away from Kolkata," Mitra wrote to the union finance minister.
The National Insurance Company Ltd, based in the city for the last 111 years has assets worth Rs 32,397 crore and a turn over of Rs 16,472 crore, the letter mentioned.
The insurance company is in fact already building a state-of-the-art head office in the newly developed financial hub in New Town to expand its business.
"You will be happy to know that already 24 banks and financial institutions have taken space for building their offices in this new and upcoming financial hub," he said.
The move to shift the company's headquarters would not only hurt the interest of the state's people also that of the people of the eastern part of the country.
"I therefore, strongly urge you not to move the company headquarter from Kolkata," he said.
As part of the divestment of public sector entities, the 2018-19 union budget had proposed to merge National Insurance Company, United India Insurance and Oriental Insurance Company into one and subsequently list the new entity on the stock exchanges.
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