Landowners likely to get stake in new industrial units under West Bengal's upcoming policy
The new West Bengal government is preparing to announce its industrial policy by mid-September, and the proposed policy is likely to include a separate section encouraging investors to make landowners stakeholders in new industrial units, according to officials involved in drafting the policy.
The proposal aims to eliminate complications in land procurement that were witnessed during the Left Front regime led by the late Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. Major agitations over land acquisition erupted during that period, first over a small car project in Singur in Hooghly district and then over a chemical hub project at Nandigram in East Midnapore district.
A state government official said the policy could offer two options for making landowners stakeholders. The first is to provide employment to one member of the land-owning family in the proposed industrial unit. The second is to enable landowners to set up 'indirect support' entrepreneurship catering to the main industrial unit.
The official explained that big industrial units, both in manufacturing and services, typically have scope for support industries, which can be 'direct' or 'indirect' entrepreneurship. Direct support entrepreneurs supply technically specialised equipment for the main industries, for which there is no scope for landowners to be stakeholders. However, big industries also offer significant opportunities for indirect support entrepreneurship, through which landowners can be made stakeholders.
Examples cited by the official include a local tailoring unit run cooperatively by landowners supplying uniforms for factory workers, and a canteen supplying lunch-boxes for factory staff. Such ventures would allow landowners to benefit from the industrial units without direct involvement in the core operations.
Priority sectors announced
Commerce and Industries Minister Tapas Roy announced earlier this month that the new industrial policy will prioritise sectors with strong demand for small support businesses. The priority sectors include textiles and garments, iron and steel, heavy electrical equipment, the automotive industry, and information technology and electronics. In North Bengal, the policy will emphasise the Triple-T sector—tea, timber and tourism.
These priorities align with the goal of fostering ancillary industries, which are seen as a way to integrate local communities into the industrial ecosystem.