Bengal Betrayed: Mamata’s Monopoly Drives Out Industry
“Mamata Banerjee’s monopoly in West Bengal has crushed investor trust, driving business away and locking the state into an endless cycle of stagnation.”
Paromita Das
New Delhi, 24th September: West Bengal, once hailed as the industrial jewel of Bharat, now teeters on the edge of economic decline—its vibrant factories, smokestacks, and entrepreneurial dreams a fading memory for millions. In Kolkata’s air, nostalgia mixes with frustration as the latest controversy rocks the business world: Mamata Banerjee’s government has abruptly revoked decades of industry incentives, trapping investors and job creators in a whirlwind of uncertainty. It’s not simply a policy shift; it’s the latest blow in a long saga of missed opportunities, anti-business sentiment, and political monopoly. Instead of sustaining Bengal’s legacy as the “Manchester of the East,” the Trinamool Congress’s populist embrace of welfare politics and rapid-fire legislative changes have locked the state into stagnation.
The recent move by the state government under Mamata Banerjee—revoking all industrial incentives dating back to 1993—has once again exposed the fragility of Bengal’s business climate and highlighted the perils of political monopoly. As legal battles intensify and headlines mount, the question echoing through boardrooms, courtrooms, and street corners grows louder: Can Bengal survive another round of political monopoly at the cost of its industrial future?
A Sudden Shock: Incentives Revoked, Trust Destroyed
In March 2025, the West Bengal government stunned Bharat’s corporate world by passing legislation to retrospectively withdraw all industrial benefits provided since the early 1990s. The Revocation of West Bengal Incentive Schemes and Obligations Bill, fast-tracked and notified in April, abruptly canceled subsidies on land, electricity, tax refunds, and more. Overnight, companies that had invested and expanded based on government pledges found themselves cheated, triggering petitions to the Calcutta High Court by industrial giants like UltraTech Cement, Grasim Industries, and Dalmia Cement. The controversy is not merely about the loss of incentives, but a fundamental breach of trust that has driven several companies to question whether Bengal remains a viable investment destination at all.
Welfare Over Wealth: The Politics Behind Policy
Why would a state government undermine its own industrial backbone? The answer lies squarely in politics. With assembly elections on the horizon in 2026, the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress is doubling down on direct welfare handouts for marginalized groups, justifying the policy as a “reallocation” of state funds toward social spending. Critics argue that this comes at the cost of job creators and long-term growth. Bengal, they warn, is locked in a cycle where populist promises trump prudence, and short-term vote banks dictate the economy’s fate. Over 6,600 companies have exited West Bengal since 2011, with a staggering 2,200 leaving just in the last five years. Even icons like Britannia and Tata have shut or shifted operations out of the state, signaling the deeper rot within.
The Long Shadow of Monopoly and Populism
This is not a new story for Bengal. The seeds were sown decades ago during the Left Front era, when militant trade unions and anti-business rhetoric made the state toxic for investors. Mamata Banerjee’s rise to power promised change but instead deepened the state’s anti-industry identity. Her historic opposition to land acquisition in Singur and Nandigram may have brought political mileage, but it also sent an unmistakable message to investors: Bengal is closed to business.
What remains is a landscape where mafias distribute contracts, appeasement shapes policy, and any hope of industrial revival is sacrificed on the altar of political expediency. Bengal’s share of Bharat’s industrial output has nosedived from over 10% in the 1960s to 3.5% today—a tragic fall for the “Manchester of the East.” Instead of goods and prosperity, Bengal now “exports” desperate youth, forced to migrate to other states in search of survival.
Stagnation as Strategy: New Bill, Old Problems
The government claims a new industrial policy is on the way, yet its actions betray a refusal to learn from past mistakes. The latest legislation not only negates past promises but also sets a dangerous precedent: no company can ever be certain that future incentives won’t be revoked in another moment of electoral calculation. As petitions pile up in court and industrial majors tally their losses, West Bengal’s image as an anti-industry state only hardens.
Time to End the Monopoly Mindset
The lesson is clear. Bengal’s decline is not inevitable but chosen—a product of leaders who traded the state’s future for unchecked power and populist control. Mamata Banerjee’s government, like its predecessors, refused to trust wealth creators, believing instead that welfare alone could deliver growth. But the demolition of trust, the demonization of enterprise, and the marginalization of industry is a recipe for permanent stagnation. For Bengal, recovery starts with breaking this monopoly on power and replacing it with accountable, pro-growth governance.
Bengal at a Crossroads
Bengal stands at a critical crossroads. The story of its industrial downfall is not written in destiny, but in political choices and the unchecked arrogance of monopoly. If the state hopes to reclaim its lost glory, it must embrace investors again, respect its promises, and put economic vibrancy above vote-bank politics. Otherwise, Bengal’s proud past will remain just that—a memory, not a blueprint for the future.
