Decriminalisation of public life needed for growth of biz in Bengal: Swapan Dasgupta
Times of India | 27 June 2026
Kolkata: Decriminalisation of public life was necessary in Bengal for the growth of business, said finance minister Swapan Dasgupta on Friday. Speaking on the need for a govt that would enable business, Dasgupta said, “Apart from sops, we need an environment which is friendly towards businesses. Criminalisation of public life has taken place in the last 10 years. We need decriminalisation.”
State govt will take all necessary steps for the growth of Bengal and take the state to the top, the finance minister said, adding that this may include the scrapping of the West Bengal Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act. In his first state budget, presented last week, Dasgupta announced that Bengal govt would re-examine the law.
“In the next four years, Bengal will witness the highest growth among Indian states,” Dasgupta said at the BCC&I-organsied ‘Dawn of Viksit Bengal’ event, pointing out that the neighbouring states of Assam and Odisha have outdone Bengal in recent times. The programme was also attended by state industry, commerce and enterprises minister Tapas Roy and member of the Economic Advisory Council to the PM, Sanjeev Sanyal.
The finance minister also thanked Centre for a disproportionate amount of aid. “We needed that support... but now, we have to stand on our own feet,” Dasgupta said. He also said that the govt, as promised in the budget, will make things simpler for investment worth over Rs 100 crore. “We are banking on growth and banking on people like you (industrialists) to optimise our potential. Bengal will be back with a bang and I hope all Bengalis will take full advantage of that,” he added.
Roy said Bengal intends to lead the transformation of the east. “We shall simplify processes and procedural delay will be a thing of the past. We are committed to expand infrastructure, industrial park and industry corridors,” he added.
Sanyal pointed out that if the eastern parts of the country want to catch up with the western region, Kolkata has to fire. “In the 1960s, West Bengal’s per capita income was 27% higher than the national average. Now, it is 20% lower. Transformation of eastern India has to start from Kolkata,” he said.
Sanyal proposed three prescriptions for Kolkata’s growth: redevelopment of idle industrial land, redeployment of heritage structures for productive use and bringing back business among Bengalis.
Sanyal speaks on monetary policy changes
With oil prices coming down, RBI may look into necessary monetary policy adjustments, member of the EAC-PM Sanjeev Sanyal said on Friday on the sidelines of BCC&I’s ‘Dawn of Viksit Bengal’. “Oil prices were a supply-side shock. With this over, there may be necessary changes in the policy,” he said.
Biggest beneficiaries of ULCRA
Speaking on the sidelines of Friday’s BCC&I event, Credai West Bengal president Sushil Mohta said the scrapping of ULCRA will be especially beneficial for certain pockets of Kolkata. Old industrial belts and underutilised land parcels near Park Circus, Beleghata, BT Road, DH Road and north Kolkata were some of the areas he identified. Besides, fringe urban zones with road connectivity, like New Town extensions, Joka, Baruipur, parts of Hooghly and Howrah too would witness a lot of land being freed for development, he said.