Bengal govt likely to unveil industrial policy with incentives by Aug 15
Times of India | 18 July 2026
Kolkata: The Bengal govt is working on an industrial policy, including a series of incentives, which it’s likely to unveil by Aug 15, state finance minister Swapan Dasgupta said on Saturday, adding that the govt would acquire land for industries and also put in place a land policy.
“We hope in the coming days, at least by Aug 15, we will be able to unveil an industrial policy which will include a series of incentives. It’s true that the incentives may not be as generous as other states, but they must be accompanied by a conducive environment,” Dasgupta said.
The Bengal finance minister was speaking at the 12th edition of the CII Capital Market Conclave in Kolkata. He noted that Bengal’s current govt is pro-business and highlighted the need for the state to have a comprehensive land policy.
“We need to have a land policy, which is the sticking point in everything. Land is a very precious commodity in Bengal. There is a land bank but I don’t think the land bank is adequate to take care of the demand,” the minister said.
He prescribed three measures to arrange land for the industries. “We will acquire land for industries. This is a progressive step,” Dasgupta said. He, however, also felt that through acquisition alone, the demand for land would not be met fully and stressed the importance of addressing the reuse of land belonging to idle factories.
“Large tracts of land have remained idle and unused in the closed factories for the past several years. The land belongs to the govt. We will have to reuse that idle land for industrial purposes,” Dasgupta added.
According to officials, the govt will also identify industrial plots allotted to companies where no manufacturing units or projects have been set up. The state govt will prepare a comprehensive list of such unused land parcels and examine the legal options available for taking them back and using them for industry purposes.
During the Trinamool govt, large tracts of land were allotted to several industrial houses for manufacturing units. However, in many cases, the projects never materialised. The current govt intends to recover the unused land for productive industrial use.
The govt is also contemplating a model, inspired by Gujarat, where people who give their land for a project get a certain amount of equity in the project in future.
The BJP govt, in its maiden budget, had proposed an allocation of Rs 5,000 crore for incentives to the industries.