West Bengal’s industrial policy may have crossed the August deadline, but industrialists in the state say working out finer modalities takes time. Industrialists believe that for any policy, there is a long process of vetting by several governmental departments, Cabinet approvals, and policy drafting by various departments.
“Policies take time. Industry has faith because government is openly engaging, meeting and interacting. They head everybody in the room during the stakeholders meeting. Whenever the policy comes, it will be a good policy,” said Dr. Rajeev Singh, Director General at the Indian Chamber of Commerce.
Industrialists are also patient as there are many knots to be untied. West Bengal has not had an industrial policy since 2025 after the erstwhile Trinamool Congress (TMC) withdrew incentives.
“Working out an industrial policy is easier said than done. I was thrilled to hear statements from Finance Minister Dr Swapan Dasgupta and Industry Minister (Tapas Roy). They know much more about problems ... When problem solvers know more than industry, then we are in the safest hands. It is not easy to unlock everything in one go,” said Sanjay Budhia, Managing Director, Patton Group.
“It is better that it is taking some time. When it (industrial policy) comes, it will solve a lot of problems,” added Budhia.
Industry sentiment in West Bengal is positive with initiatives taken by the four-month-old BJP government and proactiveness of CM Suvendu Adhikari to consider viewpoints of various stakeholders. A meeting to factor in views on the industrial policy was held on August 11 at the state secretariat in Nabanna between industry leaders and the Cabinet.
Finance Minister Dasgupta, Commerce and Industry Minister Roy, Labour and Transport Minister Arjun Singh, Tourism Minister Shankar Ghosh, and State Chief Secretary Manoj Agarwal were also present.
Industrialists also await more information on the state government doing away with the Urban Land Ceiling Act, as they believe it hampered investors outside the state from looking at West Bengal as an industry destination.
“We are aware all these ideas like land acquisition policy and Urban Land Ceiling Act are being examined. Acquisition in West Bengal is a sensitive issue. The government is looking at other states work with land acquisition, what compensation models work better where land owners are willing to join the land acquisition drive,” explained Dr Singh.
Despite challenges in West Bengal through the years, industrialists believe what works in the state’s favour in terms of investment in technology are three factors, including intellect, the price of land—which is much cheaper than in other metropolitan cities—and the price of power being the cheapest in India as renewable energy comes into play.
“I think commercially it has everything that is required. What was lacking was a government that wanted to invite tech investment. Now with BJP and Suvendu Adhikari, you have a government which is keen,” said Dr Sanjiv Goenka, Chairman, RP Sanjiv Goenka Group during a conversation at the launch of the centenary year book of ICC titled Never Taking No for an Answer: India’s Indomitable Private Enterprise.
Goenka reflected on past governments and the gap between statement and intent of action in inviting investments with capital, infrastructure and projects not being sufficient despite business summits held in the past.
“We have had so many years of apathy towards development, there are so many things to fix which is going to take time. We should give the government that time and support them,” he explained.
The BJP government promises to create a conducive environment to usher in big-ticket investments, with some investors already having announced projects in the state. Industrialists are optimistic while also being patient, with the government working on tangible solutions to deliver investor-friendly incentives.
