West Bengal chief minister Subhendu Adhikary said on Friday that he is keen to create a suitable environment and introduce policy changes to promote industrialisation, which has suffered over the past few decades.

“I don’t want to approach industrialization in a haphazard manner. I am trying to create a suitable environment for industries. We will also make policy changes to aid industrialization,” the chief minister said when asked if he would invite the Tata Group, which had abandoned its ₹2,000-crore Nano car plant in 2008.

Adhikary has set up a four-member committee, led by Bengal’s new Industries Minister Tapas Ray, to propose a new industrial policy.

Between 2019 and 2025, according to available data, West Bengal ranked 11th and lagged behind states such as Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu in terms of FDI inflows. While Maharashtra attracted ₹7.88 lakh crore in FDI during this period, Bengal received just ₹16,409 crore.

The BJP formed its first government in West Bengal in May this year, after the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress ruled the state for 15 years. In the first budget presented by the BJP government, incentives for setting up new industries and a plan to make the state a hub for defence manufacturing were among the highlights.

Adhikary also pointed out that the Tata Group already has a strong presence in the state but indicated that his government might pursue the salt-to-semiconductor conglomerate to set up a semiconductor manufacturing facility in the state. The Tata Group is developing such facilities in Assam and Gujarat.

Meanwhile, a senior functionary close to the chief minister claimed that the proposed Uniform Civil Code (UCC) legislation is likely to be passed next month.

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