“Let’s have another round of coffee,” Ranjana demanded.
Ranjana, Saswata, Sayan, and Ritika were having their usual weekend adda in the South City food court. They are all final-year engineering students
As usual, their discussions touched upon several topics — IPL matches, studies, their senior student friends already in jobs, and West Bengal’s economy and job prospects.
With 4 mugs of coffee on the table, their conversation veered round toward West Bengal’s economy.
“West Bengal’s economy is slowly changing for the better; there may be substantial transformation in a few years,” Ritika expressed her optimism.
“But isn’t the pace too slow? We will all grow old before anything great comes about.” Sayan could not share Ritika’s confidence.
“Not much has happened here for decades, but now there are some positive changes. Surely the momentum will grow with time,” Saswata was cautiously hopeful.
There is an air of hopefulness in West Bengal, and clouds of despair are fading fast.
Let’s discuss how that is happening.
Shipbuilding, IT, Consulting — New Investments Are Flowing in
There was a time when Kolkata Port held a glorious place in the Indian shipping industry. There is now hope that some of that old glory will return.
Goa-based shipbuilder Mandovi Drydocks, in JV with Kolkata-based Ripley Group, is leasing 121 acres of land at Shyama Prasad Mookerjee Port for it. The equal joint venture between Mandovi and Ripley plans to invest about ₹200 crore in setting up the yard to build 6,000- 8,000-ton ships, moving to 15,000 tons and 25,000 tons during the first 5-6 years.
But this is not the only sign of optimism. There are also other pieces of good news.
After a long hiatus, it is reported that British Airways plans to resume direct flights between Kolkata and London and is considering starting a biweekly schedule.
There is also an expansion spree of top IT service companies in Kolkata. And they are not small names; they are the leading IT companies of India.
Even Foreign Companies Are Taking Notice
Of late, quite a few IT companies from Europe and the USA have set up their offshore development centres in Kolkata.
This was unthinkable a decade ago, when Kolkata was shunned by industries in general.
But now, West Bengal has turned a leaf, and even foreign companies are taking notice.
How did it happen?
We will discuss that in a moment, but before that, let us look at some foreign companies stepping into Kolkata with their plans.
US-based infrastructure engineering software company Bentley Systems opens its new, revamped office in Kolkata, marking a significant step in its global expansion and reinforcing its commitment to driving innovation in infrastructure engineering.
UK-based Ground Up Technology and Inceptial Technologies UK Ltd. announced the launch of their offshore delivery centre in Kolkata soon.
There is cautious positivity all around.
Even some city-based IT companies have embarked on their expansion plans.
Haldia Petrochemicals is on an Expansion Spree
Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd has announced an upgrade of its ongoing chemical downstream project in Bengal, raising the investment outlay by 66 percent to ₹5,000 crore.
The company plans to raise phenol production capacity to 15 percent from 300,000 to 345,000 tons. HPL aims to complete the project by the first quarter of 2026. Once completed, HPL will be the largest phenol production company in India.
Apart from phenol, which is used in the manufacture of resins, and synthetic and nylon fibre, HPL is also focusing on cumene and acetone production to meet rising domestic demand and foster growth in the downstream chemicals sector.
This is the most significant expansion project undertaken by HPL in over a decade.
Food Tech Companies Are Investing Too
Mrs. Bectors Food Specialities Ltd., the makers of Cremica and English Oven, is setting up its first plant in West Bengal, specifically in Prospace Industrial Parks near Serampur, Hooghly, with the inauguration planned for this year.
Cookme (Spice) Pvt. Ltd. to inaugurate the new State-of-art, entirely SCADA-operated Production Facility in Serampore, West Bengal. With this expansion, they also have plans to add Flour, Papad, and ready-to-eat products. They already have factories in Kashipur and Bengaluru.
Although these investments are not enough to create substantial jobs in a state with steep unemployment, they are steps in the right direction.
Industrial Environment has Improved Substantially
Today, West Bengal boasts one of the best environments for setting up any industry.
There is ample electricity, water, and other infrastructure facilities.
Moreover, there is zero disruption and manday loss due to strikes, bandhs, etc. that was a common occurrence earlier.
West Bengal has taken proactive steps to attract investments. It has truly divorced the past, and there is hope that investments will only grow in the future.
