Kolkata, Dec 4 West Bengal, under the "misrule" of Trinamool Congress-led Mamata government, has become a "no-go zone" for industries, resulting in depleting investments and high unemployment, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said.
"Bengal is bleeding jobs. Bengal is losing investment. Bengal is being pushed 20 years backward. While other states are attracting global investors, West Bengal has become a no-go zone for industry under TMC misrule," observed BJP Information Technology Cell chief and the party's central observer for West Bengal, Amit Malviya, in a social media post on Thursday morning.
He made the remarks referring to the recent statistics provided by the Union Ministry of Commerce on the "flight of companies from West Bengal".
According to him, West Bengal was witnessing a "mass exodus of companies", and the situation is far worse than what the Trinamool Congress government tries to hide.
Quoting the Union Ministry of Commerce figures, he claimed that while a total of 207 companies have left West Bengal in just the last six months, a total of 6,895 companies have left since Mamata Banerjee came to power in 2011, ousting the 34-year Left Front rule in the state.
"And these are not small firms - even major listed companies with massive market capitalisation have fled Bengal," Malviya said in his social media statement.
Some of the major companies that Malviya claimed to have quit West Bengal during the last 15 years of the Trinamool Congress regime include "Netweb Technologies, Gallantt Ispat, Eureka Forbes, JK Tyre, Sanathan Textiles, Greenpanel Industries, National Standard, Cropster Agro, Associated Alcohols, Magellanic Cloud, Panorama Studios, Abans Financial Services, Century Enka, Elin Electronics, and Gretex Corporate Services".
Economist and industrial observers feel that two major practical hurdles in attracting investment to the state are: The state government's policy of no state interference in land procurement for industry and its stance on no Special Economic Zones (SEZ).
Considering the state's highly fragmented land-holding nature, no investor would be willing to set up big industries.
The state government's stand on not allowing new SEZs acts as a disincentive factor for potential investors from the Information Technology and services sectors.
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