West Bengal Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta on Saturday announced that the state's new industrial policy is expected to be unveiled on 15 August, coinciding with Independence Day. Dasgupta made the disclosure while addressing a seminar organised by the eastern regional council of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Kolkata.

What the New Policy Targets

The forthcoming policy is designed to revive West Bengal's once-prominent manufacturing sector through a structured investment strategy. Dasgupta said the approach marks a deliberate departure from the previous Trinamool Congress (TMC) government's stance of non-interference in land acquisition for industrial purposes.

The policy is set to focus on three specific pillars: an overarching land policy, a financial incentive framework, and the productive reuse of land held by shuttered industrial units for new entrepreneurs. 'We will make the best of the land-pool available with the state government,' Dasgupta said.

Addressing the Investor Perception Problem

A central objective of the new policy, according to Dasgupta, is to repair West Bengal's damaged reputation among investors. He pointed to the high-profile withdrawal of a major automobile project from Singur in Hooghly district as a defining episode that shaped negative investor sentiment toward the state.

'Our prime target is to remove the negative impression among investors about West Bengal,' Dasgupta said. The Singur episode, which dates to 2008, saw Tata Motors relocate its Nano plant amid land acquisition protests — an event widely cited as a turning point for industrial investment in the state.

The Direct Land Purchase Approach

Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari had earlier outlined the government's broader land acquisition philosophy, positioning it as a middle path between two discredited extremes. He said the administration would neither pursue forcible acquisition 'at gunpoint' — a reference to the Left Front era — nor adopt the hands-off posture of the TMC years.

'We have adopted a direct land purchase policy, under which the state government will directly purchase land from owners and hand it over for the project for which it is acquired,' Adhikari had said.

What Comes Next

If announced on 15 August as indicated, the policy would give the state government a high-visibility platform to signal a reset in its industrial relations. Industry stakeholders, including CII's eastern regional council, are expected to engage closely with the draft framework ahead of the formal announcement. The success of the policy will hinge on how effectively the state can convert land-pool assets into investor-ready parcels — and whether the incentive structure proves competitive with neighbouring states.