MAMATA’S FRANTIC BID TO WOO INVESTORS, MAY HOLD BGBS BEFORE NEXT ASSEMBLY POLLS IN APRIL 2026

The two-day eighth edition of Bengal Global Business Summit, held here on February 5 and 6, betrayed chief minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee’s frantic efforts to live down the Opposition’s charge as also a widely prevalent general impression that industrialisation has been a visible casualty during her regime that began in 2011. They obviously mean the absence of big ticket, employment-generating investments in manufacturing ventures, such as, heavy engineering units, integrated steel plants, chemicals and petro-chemical complexes. This, notwithstanding the fact that seven editions of BGBS had been organised by the state government since 2015and claims of the state having received a large number of investment proposals which added up to Rs 19 lakh crore plus.

But, the state seldom shared details of projects commissioned and are under implementation and
commissioning dates / schedules. The government cannot deny that educated youths in large numbers
have been leaving the state in search of employment elsewhere. Large-scale outbound migration of unskilled and semi-skilled workers remains a stark reality. In the last two-three years, confrontation with
the Centre and failure to comply with norms and rampant corruption in utilisation of Central funds have cost the state hugely in that New Delhi has applied brakes on release of rural job creation and rural housing programme funds.

Mamata’s bid to minimise the resultant discontent with alternate state-funded schemes is no substitute for what the state could achieve with regular flow of Central funds.

It is against this backdrop that the chief minister has gone all-out to make the eighth edition of BGBS a
success has to be seen. A massive publicity drive narked her efforts to persuade industrialists to commit
employment – generating investments in her state. Assembly elections are due in West Bengal in April-May 2026 – some 14 months away. Even a few weeks back it was assumed that the eighth edition of BGBS would be the last of her third term in office.

But, her advice to the officials on the second and concluding day to start preparations for the next BGBS
right now does suggest that she is keen on holding the next business conclave – the ninth edition – in
February 2026, that is, before the next Assembly elections. It seems she would like to face the electorate
in 2026 with the claim that she has made honest efforts to usher in a congenial climate for investment and industrialise the state. The Opposition’s charge is politically motivated.

Two of her actions during BGBSVIII bear out her concerns and seriousness to show results. First, she got work on the long talked about Deocha-Pachami coal project in Birbhum district started on February 6 after tackling fresh agitations on the issue of land acquisition since morning. Work here means the primary job of removing over-burden – in this case, basalt and blackstone. This is going to be a long drawn-out
exercise the quantum of overburden is huge and, therefore, actual raising of coal by the selected mine
development operator may be possible only after 12-18 months. But, there is no denying that a liberal compensation package and a time-bound rehabilitation programme have enabled the administration to begin initial actual mining-related activity , perhaps, a decade after plans to extract Deocha-Pachami coal reserves were drawn up. Even with modern mining technologies and appreciable mechanisation, its job
creation potential can’t be ignored.

Secondly, on February 5, on the first day of the BGBS itself, Mamata, in a departure from usual vocal stance, revealed to the media that she has had a telephone conversation with Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran “on the eve of the event” (actually, on February 4 night). Chandrasekaran would visit the city soon to discuss investment proposals and had taken due note of “my request to start a direct flight to a destination in Europe from Kolkata”.

Preoccupation prevented him from being present at the conclave, she informed. It is to be noted that Mamata chose to establish direct contact with the Tata Sons chief four months after Ratan Tata’s passing away (October 9, 2024) and 16 years after pull-out (October 3, 2008) by then Bombay House supremo Ratan Tata from the Singur small car venture even though it was nearly 85 per cent complete at that point in time.

The reason was then Opposition leader Mamata Banerjee’s unrelenting agitation against land acquisition at Singur soon after The Left Front’s return to power in 2006 Assembly elections. It deserves mention that despite the major setback at Singur Bombay House never stopped investments in West Bengal. In fact, they have considerably strengthened their presence in the state’s hospitality sector and has made fresh
investments in ferrous metal and engineering facilities in Kharagpur. Their executives have participated
in BGBS sessions. But, the new initiative of the chief minister to establish direct contact with the incumbent Tata Sons chief should auger well for the state.

Of major significance to the state’s economy and country’s oil and gas scene is the chief minister’s announcement that ONGC will soon be given the requisite petroleum mining lease for their project at Ashoknagar in 24 Parganas North district, where the PSU giant has been successful in discovering oil and gas and for which the state gave the company 1,500 acres of land at Rupee one. The mining lease will pave the way for commercial production.

Among the proposals received, mention may be made of the Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Group’s super thermal (800 mw x 2) power project, the group’s interest in a significant stake in Andal airport, Mukesh Ambani Group’s fresh investments in retail, telecom and date centre, Ambuja Group’s investments in real estate,
hospitality and healthcare, RPG Sanjiv Goenka Group’s investments in power, education and health sectors and ITC’s investments in hospitality, IT and AI.

In a break from the past, the chief minister informed that out of Rs 19 lakh crore worth of schemes indicated by investors in the previous seven editions of BGBS, schemes valued at Rs 13 lakh crore had been completed and the remaining valued at Rs six lakh crore plus were in the pipeline. Investment proposals received at the just concluded eighth BGBS aggregate Rs 4.41 lakh crore.

The sectors which have seen considerable progress in the last decade or so include IT & ITES, real estate, cement and hospitality.