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Bengal and business

Partition had a devastating impact on the state's economy and entrepreneurship

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Illustration by Binay Sinha

Last Updated : Jun 06 2017 | 10:56 PM IST

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, through initiatives such as the Bengal Global Business Summit in Kolkata last year, is trying to encourage business in her state. Reviving entrepreneurship, scarce in Bengal today relative to the country’s west and south, will be critical in this context.

With hindsight, the heights reached by Bengal’s businessmen until the early 20th century read like fairy tales. For example, in the 18th century, Shobharam Basak become a millionaire by supplying textiles to the East India Company. With over 12 kg of rice per rupee even in 1810, compared to less than 50 gms today, a million meant

Disclaimer: These are personal views of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect the opinion of www.business-standard.com or the Business Standard newspaper

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