KOLKATA, Jun 2 : Bengal renaissance was not only driven by art and culture, but also by the spirit of Bengali entrepreneurship, economist Sanjeev Sanyal said on Sunday.
Sanyal, a member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, was speaking at an event organised by the Bengal Business Council.
“There is a history of Bengali entrepreneurship and risk-taking. The history of Bengal is all about trade and enterprise. Bengal has a riverine landscape, having two ports as recorded in history, at Chandraketugarh near Barrackpore and Tamralipta in modern-day Tamluk,” he said.
“Many Bengalis like Chand Saudagar did maritime trade, and the families of the Seths and Basaks were big merchants,” he added.
Sanyal said that with time, the channels got silted but it did not halt trade.
He said Raja Rammohun Roy was a money lender, Dwarkanath Tagore was involved in indigo trading and a pioneer in coal mining, and Rani Rashmoni, who funded the Dakshineshwar temple and gave the plot where the Eden Gardens was built, was a businesswoman.
He said that during the partition of Bengal in 1905, many companies like Calcutta Chemicals, Luxmi Tea and Mohini Mills were formed.
“Even ace swimmer Mihir Sen set up a garments factory and he was very successful,” Sanyal said.
“The only thing is that Bengalis need to change the narrative about themselves that business does not run in their blood,” he said.
Alleging that trade unionism destroyed businesses in West Bengal during the Left Front government, Sanyal said policies were needed to revive entrepreneurship among Bengalis. (PTI)
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