New Delhi: As West Bengal’s first BJP government scouts for investments to revive the state’s industrial growth after two decades of decline, state BJP chief and Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya has said business houses, including the Birlas and the Tatas, have shown interest in investing, but they await the new industrial policy to be announced in a few days.
“Our government, led by chief minister Suvendu Adhikari, has reached out to several industrial groups including the Birlas and Tatas. The CM has spoken to the Ashok Leyland group. The Lulu group, headquartered in Abu Dhabi, is investing in Rajarhat. I can’t tell you all the names, but discussion is going on with them,” the Rajya Sabha MP told ThePrint in an interview.Asked if the Tatas would come back to Singur, Bhattacharya said, “I cannot say at this moment if they will come and set up a car manufacturing unit or something else. But we have reached out, and discussions are happening.”
Bengal’s industrialisation hit the pause button after the 2008 land agitation drove away the Tata Nano project from Singur in Hooghly to Gujarat. The agitation, with Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee as its face, brought her party to power in the state, ending the CPI(M )’s three-decade rule. The West Bengal BJP chief acknowledged that land was an emotive issue in Bengal, and industrial houses were in wait-and-watch mode to see how the government addresses the challenge. “Right now, there is no comprehensive land policy in the state. The new industrial policy will address some of the vexatious land-related issues. It will also incentivise industries to come and invest in the state,” Bhattacharya said. The previous Trinamool Congress government had announced the withdrawal of all industrial incentives in 2025, much to the consternation of industrialists.
