Kolkata: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has decided to junk Bengal’s decade-old industry policy drawn up by the Jyoti Basu government in 1994 and adopt a new one in keeping with changing realities. Interestingly, industries minister Partha Chatterjee is unaware of the move. Mamata has entrusted former Union minister Saugata Roy with the job of drafting the new policy and Roy has sent written to industry captains and chambers seeking their opinion. When TOI contacted Chatterjee on Wednesday, he was clueless. “What policy? What letter?” the minister asked. However, Roy confirmed the move. “A new industrial policy will be formulated for the state keeping in mind the current realities. Since I am no expert on industry, it’s only logical that I should seek ideas from those who are an integral part of the sector,” he said. While Mamata’s move is being interpreted as an attempt at damage control in the wake of the Haldia port imbroglio and Tuesday’s Birbhum flare-up, the new policy is unlikely to enthuse industry because the government plans to continue with its hands-off policy on land acquisition. The CM has set the terms of reference for the policy — no land acquisition and no setting up of SEZs. She has asked Roy to carve out a policy on these lines. The Trinamool veteran, now a member of the chief minister’s advisory council overseeing industry and IT, has been provided an office from where he has started sending out letters to industrialists seeking “urgent feedback by email or post or through one-to-one meetings”. Mamata denies cops fired in Birbhum Desperate to wash her hands of the violence in Birbhum, CM Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said there had been no police firing and insisted that parallels not be drawn with Singur and Nandigram. Hinting at a conspiracy, she claimed that her government had no prior intimation of the police operation. TNN