Roaring Bengal, Raring To Go


The most famous line ever written on tiger packs and punches the awesome power of the all-conquering beast. In the context of Bengal, the line, immortalized by the poet, symbolizes a resurgent state that has ushered in an era of development and progress.

It has been eight years since the government led by Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya took the reigns of power in West Bengal. It had many challenges to face. One of them is to project West Bengal as a new land of opportunity that is holding immense potential before the world business community and to entice it to invest in the state. 'Do it now' was the mantra raised by Buddhadeb to give the state a new path to tread.

WB is always known as an agricultural state, but the new government understood that to maintain its existence in this era of market of globalization, it has to repackage West Bengal as an industrialized State.

So the combined efforts of the Chief Minister Bhattacharya, Commerce Minister Nirupam Sen and the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation, the state is poised for a leap in economic growth. The efforts of the last few years have given encouraging results. West Bengal is now one of the fastest growing states of India. With a population of 80 million and a cosmopolitan demography Bengal has triggered an industrial resurgence and has become one of the most sought after destinations for the domestic and international investors.

The geographical location of the state is also very favourable, it is bordered by SAARC nations such as Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh and is a natural gateway to countries of the east and south east.

The state capital is Kolkata, the city which is the cultural hub of the country and the City of Joy to the world. Kolkota spreads over a huge area of 1380 sq km and have more than 10 million population.

Over the years, the city has undergone a tremendous change, from a city of coffeehouse intellectuals to a one which is the nucleus of business and finance. Overall, the state has shown a consistent and steady growth rate for the last few years. It has also been at the forefront among all states in the service, IT software sectors. Side by side, the literacy rate of the state too has risen.

There are key factors which played a very important part in wooing entrepreneurs to the state. These are: Encouraging economic growth rate; abundant natural resources; a large and concentrated market; easy access to international markets; well-developed infrastructure; good communication; surplus power generation; a large talent pool of English-speaking population, and low operational costs; and lastly and more importantly, a proactive government committed to rapid industrialization and balanced economic growth.
During the last eight years of Buddhadeb Bhattacharya's regime, many industries have strengthened their foothold in the state and helped the state economy reach the current state of economic growth.

Real Estate & Housing Infrastructure
The real estate business in the state has seen a new horizon. Continuous help from the state government to promote this business has yielded wonderful results. Following are a few projects backed by the state government.

• HIDCO(WB Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation) has undertaken a project in developing New town which spreads over 3075 acres.
• Bengal Ambuja Housing development ltd has developed the first condoville of the state “udayan”
• Bengal Peerless Housing Development Corporation Ltd has so far completed construction of 1400 dwelling units in their project Anupama.
• South City is being built on 31.14 acres of land .
• Indonesia-based Salim & Ciputra group is setting up the largest FDI in township project called Calcutta West International City in the state.
• The real estate giant DLF group is setting up a township of 4900 acres in Dankuni, the largest of its kind in West Bengal.
These major projects in the state clearly depict the boom in this sector with the encouragement from the state government.

Hospitality
The hospitality sector too has posted good growth in the state in the last few years. The main reason behind this is the industrial boom in the state, which has boosted business travel to and from the city.

Kolkata already has some of the renowned hotels, such as Taj, Hyatt, ITC Sonar Bangla. The current industrial boom has brought in many international groups have shown their interests in the city. Very recently two big giants of the hotel industry have shown interest in coming to Kolkata. These are: Emaar Group of Hotels & DLF Hilton Hotel.

Retail
This is a relatively new sector for West Bengal but in a very short span of time it has caught up with other areas of growth and is poised for mammoth development. A lot of activity is going on in this sector right now and investments are flocking from different quarters.

The retail market in West Bengal is heading for prosperous times in the next few years because of growing incomes of the local population. As a result, a lot of investment is in the pipeline. Global retail giants such as Walmart, Carrefour and Metroag are coming to invest in the state's retail market. Already the retail giants such as Pantaloons, Westside have big plans for the city. Though they already have their presence in the city but they are looking forward for a more prosperous future in the city. ITC Lifestyle and Mcdonalds have set up shop in the city. Retail giants such as Reliance are also going to set up a chain of retail shops. Already RPG group has started a huge chain of departmental stores in the city known as Spencers.

The reasons for the retail giants showing interest in the state are: Growing urbanization; brand consciousness, good connectivity through ports, railways and airports.
The state government has also adopted a welcoming posture to promote this business, and also reframed the policies by encouraging all types of retailing activity in the state. They have also given 51 percent FDI permission and granted easy access to national and international retail giants to enter the state.

Leather and leather products
West Bengal is one of the country's leading states for export of finished leather goods. It accounts for almost 25 percent of the country's leather export. There are 538 manufacturing companies in the state producing leather goods. The state has exported US$ 348.66 million worth of leather products in 2004-05. The state government has built a state-of-the-art leather complex spreading over 1100 acres. Leather giants such as Bata and Khadim are doing good business in the state by manufacturing 60 million shoes, and by exporting about three million footwear each year.

The Ministry of Commerce has paid special attention to this sector. It has laid emphasis on streamlining the production. The Leather Export Promotion Council has plans to grab the market of Russia.

The industry has a great future in the state because of these certain key factors:
a) A strong traditional and skills related to the leather industry .
b) Prresence of the world's second largest leather complex in Bantalla spread over 1100 acres and meant to accommodate some 500 tanneries ,100 leather goods units and ancillary industries employing a total of 50,000 people .
c) Additional arrangements made for incentives.
d) Availability of water and raw material .
e) Large market size around 20% share of the domestic market and 59.62% of ther exports .
The production range in this industry is huge , it starts from leather sheoes to footwear components , leather harness and saddler, leather furniture, leather chemicals etc. As the state has always been a prime player in this field government is taking enough care and paying attention to maintain that track record.

Iron and Steel
The iron and steel business has grown significantly in the state in the last four years. As many as 243 new iron and steel units have been set up in the state with the total investment of US $ 1.85 billion. In the last 3 years 108 iron and steel projects with a total investment of US $ 414.3 milllion were implemented in the state. Some of the giants doing robust business in this field are SAIL, DSP, Bhushan Ltd Electrosteel casting Ltd , Vesuvious India, etc.

The state government's policies to encourage the usage of more steel in constructing bridges and flyovers, efforts to step up export credit, focus on the regional trade agreements have made West Bengal one of the leaders in iron and steel business.
The other factors which encouraged this industry in the state are good and trained work force, better infrastructure and attractive incentives. The state's iron and steel industry is a major producer of iron pipes, galvanized steel, cast iron, shafts, plates, ss bars, rails , wheels etc.

IT and IT enabled services
In the last few years West Bengal has become a front runner in the global market of IT investment.
This is the result of tireless efforts of the state government and its agencies such as WBIDC. The state has a long-term vision of the high value added IT services including e-commerce, e-governance, and distant education.

To promote IT education to produce professionals, to spread IT culture at the grass root level educational institutions, the government has initiated measures and has given IT companies special status to improve infrastructure.

Towards this end, West Bengal has attracted all IT giants from national and international arena. In the last few years West Bengal has facilitated the establishment of 233 companies across the state, employing more than 32,000 IT professionals.

The IT sector of WB has grown at (CARG) of 88 percent between 1996-97 and 2002-03. The government's aggressive IT literacy programmes in the schools and colleges of the state in collaboration with some of the IT giants helped in the raising of adequate workforce.

Over the years, West Bengal has been able to attract companies such as IBM, HCL, Genpact, Infosys, NIIT, TCS, Cognizant and many more. The Saltlake sector 5 and the Rajarhat township is transforming into an IT hub. The districts of Haldia, Siliguri are also growing as good IT destinations.

Automobile Industry
Another industry which has grown very promisingly in West Bengal relates to automobile and component manufacturing. The state has huge potential yet to be tapped in this sector. The key factors which are favourable for this industry in this state are:
Easy access to raw materials such as iron and steel. Strong tradition of engineering industries Proximity to major ports such as Haldia and Kolkata, Good roadways, good communication, large availability of skilled labour, large domestic and international market, investor and industry-friendly policies of the state government, including 100 percent FDI in this sector, removal of minimum capital investment norm for fresh entrants; establishing an international hub to promote manufacture of small, affordable passenger cars;. promote manufacturing of two-wheelers; Emphasis on low emission fuel technologies and availability of appropriate auto fuels etc.

The products which are currently manufactured in the state are manufacturing of two wheelers and four wheelers, car batteries, brakes, clutches, and all other components.
Because of the above reasons the state has attracted the attention of some of the automobile giants. It may be mentioned that Tata motors are coming up with their small car project in 2008.

Also countries such as Japan have shown interest in building an automobile components complex in the state.

Agro Industries
West Bengal is a state which is always known for its agricultural produce and products processed from it. The state accounts for 30 percent of potatoes, 27 percent of pineapples, 12 percent of bananas, and 16 percent of India's rice production. Because of this reason the food processing industry has developed very rapidly in the last few years. Companies such as Askon Ltd, Pailan Group of Companies, Fritolay of Pepsi, companies like Unilever and Le Arambagh Hatcheries have made West Bengal their base.

The govt implemented some attractive policies in this sector such as extending soil testing, use of waste land for cultivation. More money is being allocated to agriculture to promote floriculture parks and flower complexes in the state.

Apart from these industries the government is also encouraging sectors such as gem and jewellery, petrochemicals, tourism , biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.

In the last eight years, the development that West Bengal has witnessed is remarkable and the state is all set to enter a new golden era of prosperity and development .