Have Most Industrial Units Left Bengal for Maharashtra in the Last Decade?

Kolkata, July 24 (NationPress) A significant proportion of industrial units that ceased operations in West Bengal over the past decade have made the move to Maharashtra, as revealed by data from a central agency.

According to information from the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), from the fiscal year 2011-12, which marked the beginning of the current Trinamool Congress administration in West Bengal, until 2024-25, the final fiscal under the same government, a total of 6,688 industrial units closed in West Bengal and relocated to other states.

The highest rate of migration, as indicated by the same central organization’s statistics, took place during the past decade, totaling 4,751 units.

Financially, the peak of this exodus occurred in the fiscal years 2016-17 and 2017-18, during which 1,945 industrial units shuttered in West Bengal and moved to other regions.

Departmental sources indicate that the largest number of industrial units that exited the state in the last decade headed to Maharashtra, with 1,308 units making the transition.

Other states that attracted these industrial units include Uttar Pradesh with 879, Chhattisgarh with 511, and Gujarat with 423.

Economic and political analysts suggest that these statistics on states benefiting from the exodus of industrial units from West Bengal present intriguing insights.

They argue that all the states that profited from this movement during the examined period are governed by the BJP. Analysts believe that the BJP may leverage these figures to illustrate how their governed states create an inviting environment for industrial units seeking relocation due to frustrations with non-BJP governed states.

It has been a longstanding debate among both the BJP and opposition parties in West Bengal that the rampant extortion by the ruling Trinamool Congress is not only deterring new investment proposals but also driving existing businesses to close and relocate.

During a political rally organized by the BJP in Durgapur, West Burdwan district on July 18, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized the detrimental impact of extortion on investments in the state.

On that occasion, the Prime Minister spent considerable time outlining how communal riots, such as those in the minority-dominated Murshidabad district—allegedly occurring with the support of certain Trinamool Congress leaders and elements within the police—along with extortion rackets orchestrated by ruling party leaders, have instilled fear in industrialists, discouraging them from investing in West Bengal.

“In West Bengal, the police always exhibit bias in incidents like those in Murshidabad. Due to the extortion rackets managed by Trinamool Congress leaders, no investor wishes to put their money in Bengal. The Trinamool Congress must be removed; otherwise, everything in West Bengal will fall apart,” the Prime Minister stated.