Kolkata, Jul 24 (PTI) West Bengal Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta on Friday reaffirmed the state’s commitment to industrialisation, saying the government was prepared to acquire land on behalf of industries and infrastructure projects despite anticipating political resistance.
Addressing a felicitation session organised by the Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), Dasgupta said land remained the most critical issue for industrial growth as the existing land bank was inadequate to meet investors’ requirements.
“The question of land is very important. The land bank available with the government is not enough. We shall acquire land on behalf of industry and for infrastructure projects. We know there would be political resistance, but we are ready to deal with it,” he said.
The remarks assume significance as land acquisition for industrial and infrastructure projects has often faced stiff resistance in the state because of fragmented land holdings and the political fallout of the Singur land acquisition movement, which shaped the state’s industrial policy for over a decade.
Dasgupta’s comment also reiterates the BJP government’s policy shift announced after assuming office.
Unlike the previous Trinamool Congress government, which maintained that private companies should directly negotiate and acquire land as it would not support acquisition for private projects, the present government has said it will acquire land and hand it over to investors.
Dasgupta also said the government was exploring ways to unlock land lying with closed industrial units.
The finance minister said the state needed proactive policies to attract high and deep technology industries with a strong multiplier effect on the economy.
“We need to have proactive policies for inviting industries in deep tech such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing. Data centres are also important. We need to aggressively get these industries as they do have a multiplier effect,” he said, adding that such projects require substantial quantities of power and water, with solar energy offering a possible solution.
Pointing to electricity costs as another challenge for industrialisation, Dasgupta said the government was focusing on renewable energy while reviewing the power distribution ecosystem.
“Power tariff here is very high. We are giving thrust on renewables. We also have to see how good is WBSEDCL; do we need another big player to enter this sector, we have to see,” he said.
He said reviving manufacturing in the state would take time, blaming the Singur episode for damaging the industrial image.
“Singur was such a setback that it turned out that West Bengal is anti-industry. The damage caused to the state’s image has to be corrected,” he said.
The finance minister said the new government had generated considerable goodwill among investors in the past few months, but this now had to be translated into investments.
He acknowledged that the state had fallen behind over the past five decades, leading to an exodus of talent from high-technology sectors, but expressed confidence that professionals would return as the business ecosystem improved.
“There will be enough opportunity for them to return,” he said, adding that the government wanted to ensure the state was not disadvantaged vis-a-vis other eastern states and would restore incentives withdrawn by the previous regime.
Referring to the state’s finances, Dasgupta said it continued to face a heavy debt burden, but the government had “gambled by banking on growth” in the budget.
He stressed that maintaining law and order was essential for economic expansion.
He said the government was committed to employment generation, describing itself as responsive to industry and reiterating that the “syndicate raj” had been eliminated.
Dasgupta also said the previous government had failed to fully utilise benefits under central schemes and that the state needed to be better integrated with the national economy.
He said the government favoured a moderate tax regime with greater compliance as being more beneficial for revenue collection.
On traditional sectors, the finance minister said industries such as tea and jute could receive temporary government support, but emphasised that their long-term sustainability would depend on commercial viability.
“Ultimately any industry, be it jute or tea, must be viable,” he said. PTI BSM MNB
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