‘Ease of doing business improves in West Bengal’

Land acquisition a concern: survey

Smooth path: West Bengal also offered cost competitiveness in terms of raw material and machinery.

West Bengal was now more conducive to doing business, offering satisfactory environment even as concerns remained over the acquisition of land for large projects, according to a survey.

Participants in the survey on ease of doing business, conducted jointly by CII and PwC, also listed labour and trade union issues and lack of skilled manpower as areas of concern for the State even as they said that West Bengal offered cost competitiveness in terms of raw material and machinery.

Need for stringent laws

The participants felt that the State needs to put in place stringent and progressive laws for trade unions and streamline the process of acquisition and conversion of land for industry.

The ease of doing business survey was released on March 17 at a CII event.

Size of the market was one of the main drivers of business along with low operational costs, the survey showed.

As per the 2011 census, West Bengal had a population of about 9.1 crore of which 6.2 crore are in rural areas.

The State offered natural resources and minerals, is a major agriculture base and hosts industries like petrochemicals, chemicals, coal iron and steel, heavy and light industries, dairy, leather, tea and jute industries.

A majority of the respondents felt that there was scope for improvement in registration process, incubation systems and legal processes. Although more than 60% of the participants said telecom and power availability was good, some felt that the power tariff structure was not competitive.

The survey showed that it mostly took a year to get the approvals to start a business and an equal amount of time to get the regulatory clearances. Land acquisition took longer — upto three years.

Even as many units were looking to expand their business in the State, some said that they were as keen to expand their network and manufacturing facilities across multiple regions.

Commenting on the survey, CII eastern region’s immediate past chairman Smita Pandit Chakraborty said that CII West Bengal Committee formed a separate committee on ease of doing Business. The survey was conducted within the State and outside to understand industry perception on West Bengal as an investment destination.