The Bengal government plans to hand over land to 33 companies for industrial projects before Durga Puja, chief minister Suvendu Adhikari said on Friday, outlining a series of proposed investments spanning manufacturing, healthcare, renewable energy and petrochemicals.
“The cabinet has cleared giving land to 33 industries. We will organise a programme before Durga Puja to hand over the land,” Adhikari said at City Centre in Salt Lake after inaugurating a festive apparel installation. He did not provide a list of the 33 companies or specify the locations and land parcels involved.
The announcement places the state’s industrial land allocation process at the centre of its investment push. Adhikari said the government was carrying out due diligence before bringing companies on board and that the credentials of prospective investors were being verified. “Whatever we are doing is foolproof. Every credential and piece of credibility is being verified. We are not doing this only for photo-ops,” he said.
Among the projects mentioned was a proposed 2,000-bed hospital in New Town backed by the Adani Group. Adhikari said the foundation stone was expected to be laid on September 24, although confirmation of Gautam Adani’s visit was still awaited. The chief minister also referred to a proposed defence project at Junput in East Midnapore, saying the state had responded to a letter from the Defence Research and Development Organisation that had, according to him, gone unanswered by the previous government. He said further details would be shared later.
Adhikari also said the ₹6,000-crore expansion of Haldia Petrochemicals was ready and would be inaugurated before Durga Puja. The project would add to the industrial activity around Haldia, one of Bengal’s principal petrochemical and port-linked manufacturing centres, although the report did not provide details on the expansion’s capacity or employment potential.
The retail sector was another part of the investment narrative. Adhikari said Style Baazar, which currently has 110 outlets in Bengal, had committed to opening 140 more stores over the next few years. The company had sought three years for the expansion, he said, while he had asked it to complete the process in 18 months. According to Adhikari, the new outlets would generate direct and indirect employment through store hiring and vendor activity.
The promoters of the apparel chain had also directly purchased 100 acres in Purulia for a solar power plant, Adhikari said. He added that he would attend the foundation stone-laying ceremony, but no construction schedule or generation capacity was announced.
The land handover plan is significant because the government’s ability to convert investment commitments into operational projects will depend on the availability, ownership and readiness of industrial land, as well as on approvals and infrastructure connections. The report does not establish whether all 33 projects have received final environmental, construction or utility clearances.
Adhikari said industrial growth would expand Bengal’s revenue base and allow the state to spend more on education, healthcare and infrastructure. He also said the government was seeking to change the state’s business environment, which he claimed had been damaged by syndicates and the cut-money culture. These assertions were part of his political and administrative statement and were not independently assessed in the report.
The next stated milestone is the proposed programme before Durga Puja at which land would be handed over to the 33 companies. Other announced milestones include the September 24 foundation-stone event for the New Town hospital, the inauguration of the Haldia Petrochemicals expansion before Durga Puja and the future foundation-stone ceremony for the Purulia solar plant.
