KOLKATA, Dec 17: Still waiting for the much-promised ‘poriborton’ in business climate, the industry in West Bengal had to face plant closures, project suspensions and a stigma of being hotbed of ponzi schemes during 2014, and no immediate respite appears in sight during a politically charged-up 2015.
While the Trinamool government, led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, tried its best to attract investors, including from Singapore, not much headway could be made and the only silver lining in 2014 was the MSME sector growth.
After witnessing a series of exits by large businesses over the recent years, the state had to suffer plant closures again this year, including by Haldia Group and Hindustan Motors, while JSW group put a major steel project on hold.
However, the biggest jolt came from a spate of illicit money-pooling schemes, including those run by Saradha Group that have given the state a billing of being ‘ponzi hotbed’ of the country. The political links of these entities have made things even worse.
Undeterred by the negatives, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee tried her best to create an industry-friendly image of the government and woo investments in the state.
During the year, she visited Singapore with some city-based industrialists to attract investments in real estate, finance and tourism sectors.
The government also organised the Bengal Leads investments summit in January in the city, which was attended by several leading industrialists from across the country.
In the end, the only silver lining was the growth of the MSME sector in the state.
According to Industry Minister Amit Mitra, more than 35,000 units have come up in the state in the last three years since the Trinamool Congress government came to power.
More than 13 lakh direct and indirect jobs were created in the MSME sector, Mitra said.
On industrial side, the first major trouble came with the temporary closure of a petrochemicals plant by Haldia Petrochemicals Limited (HPL).
The state-of-the-art plant was closed for nearly six months for want of working capital and the closure spelt doom for many downstream manufacturing units as these were sourcing their polymer needs from HPL when it was functional.
According to Indian Plastics Federation’s Pradeep Nayyar, the prolonged closure of this plant led to many downstream units closing shop or shifting their base elsewhere.
The more worrying factor remains the absence of any official word, either from the government, a major stakeholder, or the HPL management about the present status of the company.
With a controversial ownership structure of HPL, the bankers were also not willing to lend funds to the company. (PTI)
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