Mamata's Welfare Gambit

The West Bengal government's move to revoke incentives for industry and reallocate resources to support the underprivileged has caused disquiet in business circles in the state. Ishita Ayan Dutt explains

- Ishita Ayan Dutt

Mamata Banerjee's economic priorities have long been clear.

In 2011, she created history by ending the Left Front's 34-year rule in West Bengal piggybacking on the movements against land acquisition in Singur and Nandigram—sites for a Tata Nano factory and a proposed 14,000-acre chemical hub, respectively.

More than a decade later, Banerjee-led government's move to revoke industrial incentives to free up resources for welfare schemes, underscores that strategic direction once again, ahead of the Assembly elections next year.

Welfare over industry?

The Revocation of West Bengal Incentive Schemes and Obligations in the Nature of Grants And Incentives Act was notified by the state government on April 2, 2025.

The Bill, passed in the Assembly in March, received the Governor's assent thereafter.

The Act revokes all incentives granted to industries since 1993 and takes effect retrospectively from the date of implementation of each of the schemes.

The stated objective is to free up state finances for various social welfare schemes for the socioeconomically disadvantaged and marginalized sections and not to expend on providing special assistance, financial incentives, state support, benefits, concessions, or special privileges (to the industry) at the cost of the marginalized.

The Bill tabled in the Assembly had highlighted that the positive impact of the incentives had been largely confined to a limited number of beneficiaries and had a minimal effect on the broader process of industrialization.