Kolkata (PTI): Former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly is all set to don the hat of an industrialist by starting a steel factory at Salboni in Paschim Medinipur of West Bengal.

Ganguly, who is part of the delegation that accompanied West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on her 12-day trip to Spain and Dubai, said that the factory would be complete in five to six months.


"I just take this opportunity to thank the chief minister as we are starting to build a third steel plant in Bengal. A lot of us believe that I only played the sport. But we started a small steel plant in 2007, and in five to six months we will start building our new steel plant in Medinipore," Ganguly said.

Addressing the 'Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS)' in Madrid on Thursday, Ganguly went on to state that in another year's time, he would be able to complete the state-of-art facility.

"I must tell you this is from practical experience and not because I am with the Chief Minister, the entire process just took four to five months to complete," he said.

The former BCCI president referred to his family business started by his grandfather some 50-55 years ago and how supportive the state government was at that time.

"This state has always invited the rest of the world for business. That is why the CM is in this country today. It is very clear that the government wants to work for the development of the state and the youth," he said.

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New Delhi (PTI): Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday took oath as a member of Rajya Sabha, marking the end of his two-decade rule in the eastern state and paving the way for a new chief minister.

The oath was administered by Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan in his chamber at a brief ceremony. The Chairman later welcomed him as a member of the Upper House and also on his return in Parliament.

Kumar took the oath in Hindi in the presence of Union Minister J P Nadda, who is also leader of the house, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Panchayati Raj Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Ram Nath Thakur and Minister of State for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal.

Bihar deputy chief minister Samrat Chaudhary was also present at the oath-taking.

JDU leader and party's working president Sanjay Kumar Jha, Congress chief whip in Rajya Sabha Jairam Ramesh, besides BJP MP and former union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy and BJP chief whip in Lok Sabha Sanjay Jaiswal, were among those present during the oath-taking.

"Vice President of India and Chairman, Rajya Sabha, Shri C. P. Radhakrishnan, administered the oath to Shri Nitish Kumar as an elected Member of Rajya Sabha, from Bihar, at Parliament House today," the Vice President's office said on X, while sharing pictures of the oath-taking.

After the oath-taking, Kumar came out of the new Parliament building and spoke about the time he was a member of the Lok Sabha and sat in the old Parliament building.

As Kumar assumes the Rajya Sabha role, it marks the end of his long two-decade rule in Bihar. Kumar will soon resign as chief minister and the NDA is likely to elect a new chief minister of Bihar on April 14.

He has already resigned as a member of the State Legislative Council on March 30 after he was elected to Rajya Sabha.

The JD(U) supremo was elected to the Upper House of Parliament on March 16, and he had to quit as an MLC in the 14-day period after his election.