West Bengal’s industrial policy will need simpler rules, faster approvals and better coordination between the Centre, the state and district administrations, NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Ashok Kumar Lahiri said at a business event in Kolkata on Friday. The state government separately said 33 projects involving proposed investments of nearly Rs 60,000 crore could create around 62,000 jobs.
Speaking at an event organised by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce, Lahiri called for the removal of unnecessary government procedures affecting businesses and industries. He said investors should not have to wait for long periods to start a business or obtain government approvals.
“If the government already has a citizen’s information, the person should not be asked to submit the same information repeatedly,” Lahiri said, according to the report. He added that deregulation did not mean removing all controls. Instead, he said, regulations should protect public interests without becoming an obstacle to business and industry.
Lahiri also referred to India’s economic reforms from the 1991 financial crisis through the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax. He said India’s position in the World Bank’s business rankings improved from 142 in 2014 to 63 in 2020 after the introduction of the Ease of Doing Business framework.
He said West Bengal’s industrial development could not depend on the Centre alone and required coordination across central, state and district levels. Lahiri also expressed hope that the state’s new government would undertake reforms after recognising the areas where earlier systems had failed.
State Industry Minister Tapas Roy said West Bengal had once been one of India’s major industrial centres but that land shortages, delays in approvals and uncertainty around industrial facilities had affected investment. He said the Centre and the state would need to work together to change the situation.
Roy said the state was considering changes to its industrial policy to simplify land allocation, factory approvals and trade licence procedures. He also said industrialists would be asked to identify rules that create difficulties and approvals that are taking too long. The state’s stated objective is to move from “red tape to red carpet” in its effort to revive industry.
The minister said the 33 proposed projects could bring investment of approximately Rs 60,000 crore and generate about 62,000 jobs. The event also discussed increasing the participation of West Bengal’s engineering and micro, small and medium enterprises in the defence manufacturing sector.
The state government’s next steps, as outlined at the event, include identifying procedural delays, simplifying approvals and framing changes covering land, factories and trade licences. The timing and implementation details of the proposed industrial policy reforms were not specified in the statements reported from the event.
