West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on 5 November 2026 unveiled a new land procurement framework for the state, announcing that the government would directly purchase land from landowners to create a dedicated land bank, which would then be allocated to new and proposed industrial projects. The announcement came alongside the launch of West Bengal's new industrial policy, and is intended to balance the interests of investors, landowners, and other stakeholders.

The Land Bank Model Explained

At the heart of the new policy is a three-pronged approach. The state government will, as its principal mechanism, buy land directly from individual owners — bypassing coercive acquisition — and pool it into a centralised land bank. From this bank, plots will be allocated to incoming industrial projects on demand.

Beyond the land bank, the policy also draws on two additional sources: land available within existing industrial parks across the state, and clusters of erstwhile encroached land recovered by the state government. Chief Minister Adhikari stated that in the first six months of his government, land had already been handed over to 33 business groups, signalling early momentum.

A Deliberate Break from the Past

Adhikari positioned the new framework as a conscious departure from the approaches of both his predecessors. He argued that the Left Front government resorted to forceful land acquisition for industrial projects — a policy he described as one the new dispensation is 'strongly against' — while the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government played 'no role in land procurement for new industries,' which, he claimed, acted as a negative factor in attracting large-scale investment to the state.

'The Left Front government followed the policy of forceful land acquisition from landowners for industrial projects, which we are strongly against. The Trinamool Congress played no role in land procurement for new industries, which acted as a negative factor for attracting big-ticket investments. We will not adopt any of these two policies, and instead the state government will directly purchase land from the landowners,' Adhikari said.

Expert View: Right Direction, Right Timing

Industry and economic observers broadly welcomed the direction. Probir Mukherjee, a Kolkata-based economist, noted that West Bengal's highly fragmented land-holding pattern makes it structurally difficult to attract large investments without active state intervention in land assembly.

'In a state like West Bengal where the land-holding pattern is extremely fragmented, attracting big-ticket investment will never be possible without the state government playing a role in land procurement,' Mukherjee said.

He also flagged the cautionary history of Singur and Nandigram — the two land acquisition controversies during the Left Front era that catalysed a mass political backlash — as evidence that forced acquisition is counterproductive. 'The new land policy adopted by the state government will be ideal as it maintains a balance between the interests of investors, land-owners and other stakeholders,' he added.

What Comes Next

The government has indicated it is already operationally prepared to service incoming industrial demand, with Adhikari stating the administration is 'well settled to meet the land requirement for new industrial units.' How quickly the land bank scales — and whether voluntary purchase pricing remains competitive — will be the key implementation tests in the months ahead.