Bengal Govt Scraps Incentive Scheme To Encourage New Industries In State

West Bengal has revoked the incentive scheme to encourage setting up of new industries in the state, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced in the Assembly on Wednesday.

Citing the logic for taking the decision, the Chief Minister said that as there was enough infrastructure-related development in the state, the necessity for carrying along the separate incentive scheme has ceased.

The incentive scheme was introduced to encourage setting up of new industrial or business units in the districts, especially in the backward areas. Under the scheme, introduced by the Left Front regime, financial incentives were provided to new entrepreneurs.

However, that scheme was scrapped on Wednesday and for that purpose, a bill was brought on the floor of the house.

As per the explanation of the state government when the scheme was introduced, districts did not have adequate infrastructure for setting up new industries. However, the state government has clarified that in the last few years such infrastructure bottlenecks, especially regarding electricity and water supply have been done away with and there was no point in carrying on with the incentive scheme separately.

The Chief Minister told the house that the incentive was required since the priorities were not set and work was not done accordingly during the previous Left Front regime.