Tata talks to Rs 28,000 crore investment plans: Inside BJP Bengal government’s big industry push

From initiating talks with the Tata Group to plans for a new industrial policy, the Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari-led BJP government in West Bengal seems to be stepping up to bring industrial development to the state.In addition to a series of major policy decisions, including new legislation to make preventive detentions easier and approving the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), the BJP government, four months into its tenure after 15 years of the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) rule, is now looking to create an “investor-friendly atmosphere” in the state besides aiming to generate employment to stem migration to other states.Among the BJP government’s efforts are negotiations to bring the Tata Group back to Bengal nearly two decades after Mamata’s land agitation forced the company to relocate its Nano plant from Singur to Gujarat. Already, the government has sought a resolution in the legal dispute over the Rs 766 crore compensation due to the Tata Group for losses incurred after the Nano project was cancelled in 2008. The Adhikari government has also begun consultations with various stakeholders to help formulate a new industrial policy of the state. Tapas Roy, the state Industries Minister, urged major companies to invest in Bengal, saying, “I urge all of you and your good offices, please come and invest here in West Bengal. The government, our honourable Chief Minister and my department will be at your service.” Highlighting the government’s industrial roadmap, Roy said equal emphasis will be placed on reviving traditional sectors such as jute and tea, while aggressively promoting high-technology sectors including semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), data centres, and global capability centres (GCCs). Roy said that industrial growth must be driven by both innovation and modernisation, creating sustainable employment opportunities for the state’s youth while strengthening Bengal’s manufacturing ecosystem. New industrial policy The Bengal government is preparing a new industrial policy aimed at creating a comprehensive and competitive framework for industrial growth, with the policy expected to be announced in August or September. The government is also working on sector-specific policies that are expected to be announced in the coming months. State Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta said the proposed policy would cover the requirements of different segments of industry, including heavy industries, allied sectors and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). His remarks came during a stakeholder meeting at the state secretariat Nabanna, which was attended by representatives of industry bodies and other stakeholders. Key areas covered by such discussions include incentives to attract investment, single-window clearances and streamlined approvals, land availability and utilisation, support for the MSMEs and large industries, improvements in roads and logistics, and measures to improve ease of doing business. The new policy is being positioned as a “broader industrial framework” with the final draft still subject to Cabinet consideration. According to reports, the policy may also include tax-related benefits aimed at encouraging investment and employment generation. Land, law and order issues In July, while speaking at the foundation stone-laying ceremony of a Rs 600 crore manufacturing facility of Lux Industries in Hooghly district’s Dankuni, Adhikari announced the government’s decision to directly purchase land for industrial needs rather than through acquisitions. “We do not want another Singur or Nandigram. If investors require land, the government will procure it under the Direct Land Purchase Policy and hand it over. Under this policy, we have given land to the Border Security Force (BSF), Indian Railways, and bought land for a National Highway and new airport. Similarly, for private industrialists, land will not be a problem. We will completely change the land procurement policy,” the CM said. The CM added his government would introduce a single-window clearance mechanism for investment proposals of Rs 100 crore and above, asserting land availability would no longer be a constraint for industries. “Bengal will become financially strong in the next one or two years and make rapid strides in every sector. We will hand over land to at least 25 industries within a month,” Adhikari claimed. Subrata Gupta, adviser to the CM, said land pooling was one of the options under consideration. “Land pooling is one of the options the state is evaluating for land aggregation, apart from giving greater impetus to industrial parks. The objective is to facilitate the availability of larger parcels of land required by industry while addressing the challenges posed by fragmented land holdings,” he said. Calling for strengthening of the state’s law and order, Adhikari also said, “In the last three months, you have seen that the weather is changing. Hooliganism won’t be tolerated.” Rs 28,000 cr investment plans According to Tapas Roy, the government has received investment proposals valued at over Rs 28,000 crore over the past three months since the BJP came to power. Adhikari has already held separate meetings with industrialist Gautam Adani’s son Karan Adani and Larsen & Toubro chairperson S N Subrahmanyan, amid preparations to build a seaport at Dadanpatrabar in the Purba Medinipur district. Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who met Adhikari in June, said Rs 1 lakh crore would be invested in the state’s railway projects. While the Adani Group announced plans in July to set up an “Adani Health City” in Kolkata with an initial investment of Rs 2,500 crore, according to senior government officials, the Kolkata-based Adventz Group also announced investments of Rs 1,700 crore for logistics, warehousing and tanker manufacturing facilities. BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya said the government is also in talks to bring investments from the Aditya Birla Group, while Adhikari has announced he will lay the foundation stone for a Rs 4,000-crore steelworks plant in Purulia on August 17. Speaking at the inauguration of the fourth Kolkata Couture Expo on August 6, Adhikari said that Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, during a meeting to discuss the state’s financial conditions in July, highlighted the Centre’s push to develop Bengal’s tea and textile sectors. A senior state official said, “We are going to take advantage of the ‘double-engine’ government for bringing in investments. We are exploring investment opportunities in different sectors apart from tourism, tea and other sectors. We are exploring opportunities in defence, aviation maintenance and repair hubs, drone and unmanned system production units, semiconductors, ship and submarine production, satellite component production, logistics, cold-chain and multi-modal transport hubs.”