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How BJP can build Bengal into a growth hub of eastern India

The decline of traditional industries impeded Bengal's progress. The situation has changed after BJP came into power. There is hope that the new government will attract investors.

The BJP swept the West Bengal Assembly elections last month, dethroning Mamata Banerjee’s TMC and securing a two-thirds majority in the state. With the formation of the BJP government, hopes have strengthened across the country that West Bengal can regain its historical glory and advance on the path of development.

In the Fiscal Year 2024-25, West Bengal’s per capita income at current prices stood at Rs 1.63 lakh, whereas the national average was Rs 2.05 lakh. Thus, West Bengal’s per capita income was approximately 79.5 per cent of the national average, with a gap of Rs 42,000 between the national annual per capita income and that of the state.

However, the situation in West Bengal had not always been this way. In 1960-61, the state’s per capita income was 127.5 per cent of the national average. Even in 1970-71, it remained 18 per cent higher than the national average. Yet, by 1980-81, it had fallen to 97 per cent of the national average, and by 2010-11, it stood at merely 84 to 86 per cent—a trend that continues to this day.

While India’s GDP was growing at an annual rate of 3 to 3.5 per cent in the 1970s, West Bengal’s GDP growth rate was between 1.5 and 2.0 per cent. Although GDP growth in the state reached 5.5 per cent in the 1980s, the pace of industrial development remained extremely sluggish. In the 1990s, West Bengal’s growth rate surpassed the national growth rate. Between 2000 and 2011, despite the absence of an industrial upswing, the state performed relatively well due to the expansion of the service sector. Between 2011 and 2025, West Bengal’s growth remained below the national average, ranging from 6.5 per cent to 7.0 per cent.

As West Bengal’s pace of development lagged behind other parts of the country, its share of the national GDP declined from 10.5 per cent in 1960 to merely 5.6 per cent in 2024-25. While the........

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