Mamata govt courts investors ahead of West Bengal Assembly polls

Speaking at the conclave, RPSG Group Chairman Sanjiv Goenka said that over the last 15 years, the group has invested Rs 26,500 crore in the state

A proposed 5,000 mwh battery storage project by the RP-Sanjiv Goenka (RPSG) group, new hotel ventures from ITC, and additional commitments from the JSW group were among the key announcements at the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government’s Business & Industry Conclave, held ahead of the Assembly elections next year.

 

Addressing the conclave, RPSG group Chairman Sanjiv Goenka said the group had invested ₹26,500 crore in West Bengal over the past 15 years. “These are investments on the ground,” he said, while committing the next phase of investment.

 

“It will probably be one of its first kind in the country -- a 5,000 mwh battery storage facility linked to our generation plans. This will involve a total investment of ₹12,000 crore. We have already submitted a letter of application for land and we want to move very fast,” Goenka said.

 

He added that the project would help enable at least 50 per cent renewable energy supply to the city of Kolkata, a proportion that would be unprecedented in India.

 

The group’s total proposed investment stands at ₹15,800 crore, including plans for a state-of-the-art hospital and a school. 

 

ITC Chairman and Managing Director Sanjiv Puri said the company currently operates seven hotels in the state, with five more in the pipeline in partnership with other firms, including a super-luxury hotel in Siliguri. “We are going to invest in three more hotels, for which we are actively working to acquire land in Darjeeling, Kurseong and the Sundarbans,” he said.

 

The head of the cigarettes-to-soap conglomerate described it as a privilege to be associated with Kolkata for around 115 years. “It’s been a journey of expanding our footprint across all sectors of the economy -- agriculture, manufacturing and services where we participate. What is interesting is that 75 per cent of our footprint has actually grown in the last decade,” Puri said.

 

In April, JSW Energy kicked off work on a 1,600 mw power plant at Salboni in Paschim Medinipur district with a foundation stone-laying ceremony. Speaking at the conclave on Thursday, Sharad Mahendra, joint managing director and chief executive of JSW Energy, said the company had since scaled up its plans.

 

“We had announced 1,600 mw, and now we are investing for 3,200 mw with an investment of almost ₹40,000 crore,” he said.

 

The company has received environmental clearance for the first phase of 2×800 mw, and work on the next phase of another 2×800 mw is expected to begin soon. “This investment will start in a big way from 2026 onwards,” Mahendra added.

 

Banerjee used the platform to call for a more enabling environment for industry, arguing that businesses should be allowed to function without excessive interference. “How will small businessmen grow if they are disturbed by agencies, they are always afraid,” the chief minister said.

 

“Let industrialists feel free -- it is their responsibility to take care of their businesses. It is not the government’s duty to interfere in every business,” she said, adding that the state wanted freedom for industry as well as for the working class.

 

She also launched the World Bank-supported “Boosting Logistics Efficiency & Trade Facilitation” programme, valued at $150m, and released a booklet outlining the New Cinema Policy 2025.

 

Among other projects announced, UltraTech Cement said it had been allotted 40 acres for its fourth plant in West Bengal. The company currently operates three plants in the state with a combined capacity of 8.5 million tonnes.

 

Umesh Chowdhary, vice-chairman and managing director of the Titagarh group, said: “We are the largest wagon manufacturer in the state; we are going to be the largest manufacturer of metro coaches, and we are setting up a shipyard in Falta where we will build 16-18 specialised vessels a year.”

 

At the Bengal Global Business Summit held in February this year, Harshavardhan Neotia, chairman of the Ambuja Neotia group, had announced plans to invest ₹15,000 crore over five to seven years across multiple sectors. “All those investments are on track,” he said on Thursday.