Kolkata, May 12 -- BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya on Tuesday said the newly formed BJP government in Bengal would introduce a new land policy to facilitate large-scale industrialisation and assure investors of a "fear-free" industrial climate in the state.
Speaking at the 139th Annual General Meeting of the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Bhattacharya said the state government was considering scrapping the Urban Land Ceiling Act and introducing contract farming, a long-standing demand of industries and corporate houses. Contract farming is currently not permitted in West Bengal.
"The state has no future without large industries. Problems related to land ceiling have been a major obstacle, as 85 per cent of land here is fragmented. We are thinking of lifting the urban land ceiling," he said.
Bhattacharya criticised the land acquisition policy of the previous government and said the proposed land policy would draw from successful models adopted in states such as Punjab, Haryana and Maharashtra. On the sidelines of the event, he told reporters that the BJP was not opposed to Special Economic Zones (SEZs).
Maintaining that the distinction between the ruling party and the government machinery had become blurred in recent years, Bhattacharya said his party was trying to restore that separation.
"The newly formed administration should function as the government of West Bengal and not as a BJP government. Invest without fear. There will be no obstruction over land and no political interference. Businesses will no longer have to pay political parties in order to operate in the state as they allegedly had to earlier," he added.
Bhattacharya said 82 per cent of land holdings in West Bengal belonged to small farmers and stressed the need for greater industry participation for the state's economic transformation.
Referring to the annual Global Business Summit organised during the tenure of former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, he claimed that several industrialists who publicly announced investments in Bengal had eventually shifted their capital to states such as Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh over the past decade.
He further claimed that investors from across India were showing renewed interest in Bengal and assured them there would be no political interference in industrial projects. He added that if anyone attempted to obstruct industrial activity, investors should directly approach the police.
Bhattacharya also addressed concerns regarding the Bengali film industry, alleging that politics had dominated the cultural space. He assured film professionals that there would be no political interference in filmmaking or film screenings under the new administration.
However, he clarified that he was not speaking on behalf of the government and was not part of the BJP dispensation.
Concluding his speech, the BJP state president appealed to industrialists to expand investments in Bengal, stating that the Central government stood firmly behind them and that they were free to conduct business independently in the state.
BJP Rajya Sabha MP Rahul Sinha said the BJP's primary focus in the state would be to restore peace and establish law and order.
"Once peace is guaranteed, development in education, health, business and every other sector will follow in Bengal," Sinha said.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.