Associate Sponsors

Co-sponsor

image

Sovandeb Chattopadhyay

About Sovandeb Chattopadhyay

Facebook IconLinkedIN Icon

Who is Sovandeb Chattopadhyay?

Sovandeb Chattopadhyay is an Indian politician from West Bengal and is the first elected MLA of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in 1998. He was the founder president of the Indian National Trinamool Trade Union Congress, the labour wing of the party. Earlier to TMC, he was a Congress member.

During the first stint of the TMC government in West Bengal under Mamata Banerjee's leadership from 2011 to 2016, Chattopadhyay was the Government Chief Whip in the West Bengal Vidhan Sabha. In the second term in 2016, he took charge of the Ministry of Power & Non-Conventional Energy of West Bengal.
 
The 77-year-old politician was a  boxer in his younger days and is a veteran trade union leader, with degrees in science and law. He is also the president of the Kolkata Auto Rickshaw Operators’ Union.
 
In 1991 and 1996, Chattopadhyay won the Baruipur seat as a Congress candidate and Rasbehari constituency as a TMC candidate in 2001 and 2006. In 2011, he won by nearly 50,000 votes and was re-elected in 2016, keeping the same power ministry of the state.
 
In the upcoming West Bengal Legislative Assembly, the veteran minister will be contesting from the Bhawanipore constituency, the erstwhile seat of the TMC supremo Banerjee.
 

Here are the latest news from Business Standard

Latest News

Sebi fines Orient Trimex, eight others ₹1.35 crore for falsifying accounts

Sebi has penalised Orient Trimex and eight others ₹1.35 crore for booking fictitious sales and purchases through untraceable entities and publishing misleading financial results

Updated On: 19 Feb 2026 | 12:26 AM IST

HUL to invest ₹2,000 crore to scale manufacturing for premium categories

HUL will invest up to ₹2,000 crore over two years to expand capacity in premium beauty, wellbeing and home care liquids, aiming to enhance supply-chain agility and future readiness

Updated On: 19 Feb 2026 | 12:25 AM IST

India sheds defensive stance, negotiates future-focused trade deals: Goyal

Piyush Goyal says India has moved beyond apologetic trade talks, using FTAs as strategic tools to secure long-term economic gains while protecting sensitive sectors

Updated On: 19 Feb 2026 | 12:25 AM IST

Meta warns India's three-hour takedown rule may trigger wrongful removals

Meta's Rob Sherman says India's new rule requiring takedowns within three hours may lead to inadvertent removal of genuine content as companies struggle to verify requests

Updated On: 19 Feb 2026 | 12:25 AM IST

Nissan targets 100k exports in FY27 as part of renewed India growth plan

Nissan aims for 100,000 exports and 100,000 domestic sales in FY27 as it launches three new locally built models and leverages India's FTAs to strengthen its global supply base

Updated On: 19 Feb 2026 | 12:25 AM IST

Santam Re opens GIFT City branch to scale Indian and Asian reinsurance play

Santam Re has launched its GIFT City branch as an IFSC office, focusing initially on India's reinsurance market before expanding into broader Asian and Middle Eastern regions

Updated On: 19 Feb 2026 | 12:17 AM IST

EPAM repositions India as co-innovation hub for life sciences, healthcare

EPAM bets on India as global co-innovation hub for AI-driven life sciences and healthcare expansion

Updated On: 19 Feb 2026 | 12:15 AM IST

HUL tops Perpetual Capital Hurun India Impact 50 as India Inc steps up ESG

HUL leads the Hurun India Impact 50-2026 rankings as ESG investing deepens, renewable energy adoption rises and carbon neutrality targets accelerate across India Inc

Updated On: 19 Feb 2026 | 12:13 AM IST

Europe backs India's AI push and supports early ratification of trade deal

European leaders back early India-EU trade deal ratification at the AI Impact Summit, deepening cooperation on AI, semiconductors, digital governance and strategic growth

Updated On: 19 Feb 2026 | 12:08 AM IST

Let telecom firms deploy their network, DoT tells Navi Mumbai airport

DoT has classified Navi Mumbai International Airport as a public entity under the Telecommunications Act and directed it to provide telcos fair, transparent Right of Way access for network rollout

Updated On: 19 Feb 2026 | 12:07 AM IST

Google's India AI plans: Of classrooms and Cloud with training push

Sundar Pichai announced the India America Connect Initiative, bringing new sub-sea cable routes and AI-focused investments to deepen India-US digital and scientific cooperation

Updated On: 19 Feb 2026 | 12:02 AM IST

Banks take cautious approach to acquisition financing under new RBI norms

Banks are expected to move slowly on acquisition financing as RBI's conservative norms take effect, with exposure caps, leverage limits and valuation guardrails shaping early deals

Updated On: 19 Feb 2026 | 12:02 AM IST

Govt looks to unlock ₹80,000 crore via rail PSU stake sales by FY30

The Centre plans to raise about ₹80,000 crore by diluting stakes in seven listed railway PSUs over FY27-FY30 as part of Railways' asset monetisation drive

Updated On: 18 Feb 2026 | 11:57 PM IST

Data centres to subsea cables: India draws mega AI infra bets on Day 3

Day three of the AI Impact Summit underscored India's central role in global AI expansion, with new investments, cross-border partnerships and large-scale infrastructure commitments

Updated On: 18 Feb 2026 | 11:45 PM IST

States' fiscal arithmetic tightens in FY27; deficit seen at 3% of GDP

Ind-Ra expects states' fiscal deficit to widen to 3% of GDP in FY27 due to higher revenue spending, with SASCI-linked borrowing potentially lifting it to 3.5% of GDP

Updated On: 18 Feb 2026 | 11:43 PM IST

GEG sharpens AI adoption, eyes robots with ₹1,200 cr Amethyst project

Mumbai-based conglomerate to deploy AI agents and intelligent robots across 14 business units over three years

Updated On: 18 Feb 2026 | 11:38 PM IST

Govt asks EPFO to conduct study on impact of workforce formalisation

Panel seeks report in three months amid push on labour codes, eshram and social security coverage

Updated On: 18 Feb 2026 | 11:37 PM IST

India plugged in too late, nears bottom in 2025 ePV rankings, shows data

India ranks 47th in global ePV adoption in 2025 with just 4% penetration, far from its 2030 target, as infrastructure and policy gaps slow EV momentum

Updated On: 18 Feb 2026 | 11:37 PM IST

India's crude oil import bill drops 19% in January on softer global prices

India's crude oil import bill fell sharply in January as the Indian basket price averaged $63.08/bbl - $17 lower than last year - easing the country's overall energy burden

Updated On: 18 Feb 2026 | 11:34 PM IST

Valeo to invest ₹2,150 cr in India and triple its annual sales by 2028

Valeo will invest ₹2,150 crore in India as part of its Elevate 2028 strategy, expanding EV and ADAS manufacturing, localisation, and engineering capacity to triple domestic sales

Updated On: 18 Feb 2026 | 11:34 PM IST