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What is the story about?
Business and industry leaders are betting on a new phase of investment and growth in West Bengal, with industry executives saying a change in government could attract more multinational companies, accelerate infrastructure development and unlock fresh demand in real estate and consumption.
Speaking at the Rising Bharat Summit being held in Kolkata, industry executives said that while transformation will take years, greater coordination between the state and the Centre could improve the ease of doing business and give Bengal a much-needed catalyst for growth.
“There is a lot of enthusiasm in the market as far as government change is concerned. There will be a lot more interest from multinational companies to invest in Bengal,” said Parthiv Neotia, MD (Healthcare Division), Ambuja Neotia Group. “There will be a lot of momentum and investment in the state. The kind of transformation people of Bengal are looking at will take five years,” he said, adding that the regime change will be good for the real-estate sector in the state.
Sameer Satpathy, Divisional Chief Executive, Personal Care Products Division, ITC, also noted that the east never had a consumption but a supply problem. "We have around 20 factories here. We have put a million square feet of factories supplying the east. The status of women here is better than any other part of the country. As far as the demand situation goes, it has been good. Rural demand is growing,” he said.
Industry leaders are hopeful of increased investment in the state and expect greater ease of doing business.
Sumant Ahlawat, CEO, Apeejay Shipping, said that people are very hopeful. “As far as shipping is concerned, we were operating everywhere, and we’ve now started services between Calcutta and Andaman. The synergy between the state and central government was missing earlier. When the synergy is there, things will become much better,” Ahlawat said.
Anurag Choudhary, Founder, CMD & CEO, Himadri Speciality Chemical, also said that the company will now focus on Bengal for its next phase of growth. The company is now working on new-age chemistry like raw material for lithium-ion cells and plans to set up the plant in Bengal. “It will be the first plant in the world after China for lithium-ion phosphate. We are working on nano technologies,” Choudhary said.
The panel noted that they are hopeful of conducive industrial policies that will enable business to grow in West Bengal and see huge opportunities for investments in various sectors.
“A lot of consumption depends on cultural factors and the east has always had it,” Satpathy said, adding that the east has always been large for the company. “We continue to do well and invest here. We’ve also taken brands from Bengal to the rest of the country. We’ve been able to take regional brands national,” he said.
Neotia also noted that real estate or housing projects have been upgraded in Bengal and believes there will be a huge influx of new demand for people coming into Calcutta. “In 4-7 years, we see huge demand coming in for real estate in the city,” he said.
Ahlawat highlighted that the shipping infrastructure that was there 50 years ago remains as is.
“The ports on the western side grew, and they modernised. That kind of modernisation didn’t happen in the east. National waterways have remained underutilised. That is what has been missing: the integration of it, the modernisation. We are very hopeful that with the synergy coming between the central and local government, things will definitely get better,” he said, noting that driving the policy is easy; execution has always been a challenge in India.
The panel pointed out that industrialists or businesses want respect and ease of doing business; the quality of transparency and speed.
“Bengal has all the right resources to go; it just needs the right catalysts to help businesses grow,” Neotia said.
Speaking at the Rising Bharat Summit being held in Kolkata, industry executives said that while transformation will take years, greater coordination between the state and the Centre could improve the ease of doing business and give Bengal a much-needed catalyst for growth.
“There is a lot of enthusiasm in the market as far as government change is concerned. There will be a lot more interest from multinational companies to invest in Bengal,” said Parthiv Neotia, MD (Healthcare Division), Ambuja Neotia Group. “There will be a lot of momentum and investment in the state. The kind of transformation people of Bengal are looking at will take five years,” he said, adding that the regime change will be good for the real-estate sector in the state.
Sameer Satpathy, Divisional Chief Executive, Personal Care Products Division, ITC, also noted that the east never had a consumption but a supply problem. "We have around 20 factories here. We have put a million square feet of factories supplying the east. The status of women here is better than any other part of the country. As far as the demand situation goes, it has been good. Rural demand is growing,” he said.
Industry leaders are hopeful of increased investment in the state and expect greater ease of doing business.
Sumant Ahlawat, CEO, Apeejay Shipping, said that people are very hopeful. “As far as shipping is concerned, we were operating everywhere, and we’ve now started services between Calcutta and Andaman. The synergy between the state and central government was missing earlier. When the synergy is there, things will become much better,” Ahlawat said.
Anurag Choudhary, Founder, CMD & CEO, Himadri Speciality Chemical, also said that the company will now focus on Bengal for its next phase of growth. The company is now working on new-age chemistry like raw material for lithium-ion cells and plans to set up the plant in Bengal. “It will be the first plant in the world after China for lithium-ion phosphate. We are working on nano technologies,” Choudhary said.
The panel noted that they are hopeful of conducive industrial policies that will enable business to grow in West Bengal and see huge opportunities for investments in various sectors.
“A lot of consumption depends on cultural factors and the east has always had it,” Satpathy said, adding that the east has always been large for the company. “We continue to do well and invest here. We’ve also taken brands from Bengal to the rest of the country. We’ve been able to take regional brands national,” he said.
Neotia also noted that real estate or housing projects have been upgraded in Bengal and believes there will be a huge influx of new demand for people coming into Calcutta. “In 4-7 years, we see huge demand coming in for real estate in the city,” he said.
Ahlawat highlighted that the shipping infrastructure that was there 50 years ago remains as is.
“The ports on the western side grew, and they modernised. That kind of modernisation didn’t happen in the east. National waterways have remained underutilised. That is what has been missing: the integration of it, the modernisation. We are very hopeful that with the synergy coming between the central and local government, things will definitely get better,” he said, noting that driving the policy is easy; execution has always been a challenge in India.
The panel pointed out that industrialists or businesses want respect and ease of doing business; the quality of transparency and speed.
“Bengal has all the right resources to go; it just needs the right catalysts to help businesses grow,” Neotia said.
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