Cautious push for industrialization in West Bengal

‘Land acquisition for (the Tata Motors Nano factory in Singur) turned into a key issue that subsequently ended the Left Front’s 34-year rule in the state and catapulted Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee to power in 2011.’ A photo shows private security outside a closed Tata Motors factory on April 27, 2011. | Photo credit: Reuters

The BJP government in West Bengal seems to be in a hurry to initiate an administrative and legislative overhaul in the state and reverse the policies of the previous Trinamool Congress government.

Although the Suvendu Adhikari government has introduced new legislation to ease preventive detention, implement a uniform civil code, dismantle statues and inscriptions of the previous regime and change street names, it has also accelerated the push to bring industry to the state.

At the policy level, there have been several developments such as the reintroduction of an incentive scheme for industry – which was stopped by the previous regime, exemption of investments above ₹100 million from obtaining a no-objection certificate from local bodies, and a review of the West Bengal Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, which restricts private ownership of land in urban agglomerations.

But the biggest policy announcement to attract industry was made by the chief minister on July 11 when he said his government would buy land directly from farmers to set up industries. “We have adopted the direct land purchase policy of 2013… With this policy, we are giving land to BSF, Railways and National Highways (Authority) and for the new airport… Under the land purchase scheme, we will directly buy the land and hand it over to you,” Mr Adhikari said while laying the foundation stone for the manufacturing unit in Dankuni last week.

While the shift in policy suggests that the state government is willing to go the extra mile to attract industry, land acquisition remains a tricky issue. West Bengal is the second most densely populated state in the country with over 1,000 people per km2 and an average land size of only 0.77 hectares.

About 20 years ago, the CPI(M)-led Left Front government returned to power with a huge mandate, winning 235 of the 294 Assembly seats in the state (BJP won 208 seats in 2026). Led by Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, she rushed to industrialize the state and announced the establishment of a small Tata Motors car factory in Singur.

However, land acquisition for the project became a key issue that subsequently ended the Left Front’s 34-year rule in the state and catapulted Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee to power in 2011. Mr. Adhikari, who was part of the fight against land acquisition in Nandigram, is aware of the dangers of forcible land acquisition against the government and how it could unite people. “We don’t want a repeat of Singur and Nandigram against land acquisition,” he said, stressing that he did not want industry to directly buy land from farmers.

However, the chief minister’s note left the industry without clarity on land acquisition. Business houses say a clear picture will emerge only when the government comes out with a land acquisition policy in the next few months.

During the 15 years of Trinamool Congress rule, prominent industry leaders have presented proposals worth lakhs of crores at the Biswa Bangla Global Conventions. They often repeated the same proposals year after year while millions of workers from the state moved to the south and west of the country to work as migrant workers.

Tata Motors’ decision to leave the state at the height of the Singar agitation in 2008 is seen as a major setback to West Bengal’s dreams of an industrial revival after years of militant unionism. In the last two decades, the Left and Trinamool governments have tried hard to shake off the state’s anti-industrial image. In these years, West Bengal lost the industrialization race to the states in the west and south of the country.

Starting late in the race, Bengal has several hurdles to overcome such as land acquisition – which is unclear, ensuring proper law and order which has hit rock bottom due to misgovernance in the Trinamool regime and improving its infrastructure which appears to be crumbling.

The BJP government’s promise to turn West Bengal into a ‘Sonar Bangla (Golden Bengal)’ cannot be achieved without starting industrialization and this is perhaps the biggest challenge facing the government.

Published – 14 Jul 2026 0:24 IST