Industrial Policy-West Bengal
The New Economic Policy followed by the changed industrial scenario in the country as also the West Bengal Government's own proposals for an alternative economic policy call for a statement of policy by the Government of West Bengal on the vital issues of industrial development, rehabilitation of sick units and generation of employment opportunities and protection of the legitimate interest of the labour.
West Bengal has a well-developed communication network encompassing an extensive railway system, domestic and international airports, modern ports, national highway, etc. For industrial exploitation the raw materials available are coal, iron and steel, agri-horticultural produce, plantation crop, agro-waste, marine products, hides and skins. etc. Minerals like dolomite, limestone, lead, zinc ores and granite are in abundance,while water is plenty. Indeed, the State's natural wealth is amongst the best in the country.
Till the late forties, West Bengal enjoyed a pre-eminent position in the field of industrial development. Well over 600,000 people were employed in various industries in the organised sector in 1948 - a figure being equal to that of the present Maharashtra and Gujarat put together. The partition followed by large influx of refugees placed a major strain on the resources of the State. And this was also not adequately taken care of by the Government of India. Nevertheless, a number of Central Public Sector establishments like the Durgapur Steel Plant (DSP), Alloy Steel Plant (ASP), Mining & Allied Machinery Corporation (MAMC), Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW), Hindustan Fertilizer Corporation, etc. were established during the fifties in the State. This led to a process of ancillarisation.
The New Economic Policy and the Approach of the State Government
The New Economic Policy of the Government of India brought about mixed reactions in the country. The State's considered views in respect of this economic package of reforms are well known and an alternative proposal based on self-reliance has been suggested by the State Government without isolating India from the global economy. While continuing to advocate a change in some important aspects of this New Economic Policy, we must take the fullest advantage of the withdrawal of the freight equalisation policy on steel and the delicensing in respect of many industries.
The approach of the State Government towards industrial development is summed up in the following words of the Chief Minister in his recent address to the Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BCCI).
"We are all for new technology and investments in selective sphere where they help our economy and which are of mutual interest. The goal of self-reliance, however, is as needed today as earlier. We have the State, the private sector and also joint sector. All these have a role to play."
Apart from the presence of a large number of Indian Industrial Houses functioning in the State, a number of Multinational Corporations (MNCs) have long been successfully operating in the State and, to name a few, they are Philips, GEC, Hindustan Lever, ICI, Siemens, Bata, etc. A welcome development is that a good number of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), MNCs directly or through foreign Governments and Indian Industrial Houses have, in the recent past, shown special interest in coming to West Bengal either for setting up new industries or for expansion of existing industrial units.
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