West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has unveiled a new industrial policy centred on creating a government-backed land bank, attracting investment in sectors such as electric vehicles and semiconductors, and generating employment. The state is also in talks with commercial vehicle manufacturer Ashok Leyland for a possible investment in Singur, the site associated with the Tata Motors land controversy between 2006 and 2008.
The policy is designed to make land available for industries while avoiding forcible acquisition by the state, Adhikari said. The chief minister said the government would buy land to create the land bank and was discussing funding models with Hudco, Nabard and the Asian Development Bank.
The administration is examining models under which farmers could receive a share of developed land, equity in companies or priority in unskilled employment, according to Adhikari. He said the government would not use the police to forcibly acquire land and would not take responsibility for procuring land on behalf of every industrial project.
The land question is particularly significant in Singur, where protests against land acquisition for a Tata Motors factory helped propel the Trinamool Congress to power in the 2011 Assembly elections. The proposed Ashok Leyland investment would bring fresh industrial attention to the location, although the report does not specify the proposed project’s size, investment value, land requirement or timeline.
The policy also provides for companies that received land under the previous government but did not begin their projects to start work within three months. If they fail to do so, the land will be taken back and the original purchase amount refunded, the chief minister said.
Adhikari said that over the past six months the state had handed over land to 33 business groups, including Amul, Vedanta and Reliance, for new plants or expansions. He cited land allotments in Panagarh and Haringhata, industrial parks, a proposal involving the Sanjiv Goenka Group in Haldia and the recovery of plots belonging to closed industrial units in the Barrackpore industrial belt.
The chief minister said investments worth Rs 1 lakh crore were in the pipeline over the next few months. The announcement, however, does not mark a clear change to existing urban and rural land-ceiling laws. A senior official had earlier indicated that the government might allow industries to hold land beyond the applicable ceiling, but the reported policy details do not confirm such a change.
The state has also acknowledged a large backlog of industrial incentives. Adhikari estimated outstanding incentives at approximately Rs 50,000 crore and said the government would take responsibility for incentives under the current policy made on or after May 9, 2026. He ruled out immediate payment of the earlier dues, saying they would be considered only after the state’s finances turn surplus.
The policy therefore combines a renewed industrial land strategy with tighter scrutiny of unused allotments and a delayed approach to legacy incentives. Its implementation will depend on the land-bank funding model, the terms offered to affected farmers, the treatment of land-ceiling rules and whether proposed investments, including the possible Singur project, move from discussion to formal commitments.
