Mamata Banerjee’s 15-Year Rule: A Mixed Bag of Welfare and Investment
Fifteen years later, that agenda is reflected in parts — Kolkata looks cleaner, rural connectivity has improved and welfare schemes are a central talking point. But industrial growth remains uneven, and big-ticket private investment hesitant — shaping the state’s perception from outside.
A Pro-Welfare Image Takes Shape
Banerjee rode a wave of anti-incumbency, fuelled by land agitation movements in Singur and Nandigram. But that was the first term, points out political analyst Sabyasachi Basu Ray Chaudhury. “Thereafter, she set about building an image firmly focused on the subaltern and the lower middle class, with a steady rollout of targeted welfare schemes that helped consolidate an electoral base — in many ways occupying space the Left once claimed,” he explained.
Numbers tell the story. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) manifesto for the ongoing Assembly polls puts the number of welfare schemes at around 100, while the state’s Budget documents indicate that spending on the social services sector under state development schemes has risen more than seventeen times to about ₹1.21 trillion since 2011.
Welfare Schemes: A Necessary Evil?
According to Abhirup Sarkar, former professor of economics at the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), one way to look at the phenomenon is that it is politically necessary — WB set the template and other states followed. “But there is little doubt that the beneficiaries are largely underprivileged, and a broad section of economists argue that direct transfers are essential, with some even advocating for a universal basic income,” he said.
However, the big question is on tightening fiscal space — how much room remains for capital expenditure and the incentives needed to attract industry. To learn more about the impact of welfare schemes on the economy, visit our blog on Welfare Schemes in India.
Tight Finances, Hard Choices
Bengal is only part of a wider problem now. India’s Economic Survey 2025-26 noted that revenue expenditure continues to account for the bulk of state spending, although its share declined modestly from 86 per cent in FY19 to 84 per cent in FY24.
Within revenue expenditure, the composition now increasingly tilt towards unconditional cash transfers and other committed outlays. To understand the implications of this trend, read our article on Revenue Expenditure in India.
Industry: The Weak Link
Little wonder, then, that last year the state government scrapped industrial incentives — which had been granted since 1993 — to channel resources into welfare schemes.
It’s not that companies were receiving these, but they were carrying it on their books, pointed out an industry body representative. “However, the state government’s notification of The Revocation of West Bengal Incentive Schemes and Obligations in the Nature of Grants and Incentives Act effectively draws the curtain down on the matter — and it hasn’t gone down well with industry,” he said.
Big-Ticket Private Investment: A Pain Point
Big-ticket private investment has remained a pain point. The single-largest proposed industrial investment in the core sector by a private company so far has been ₹40,000 crore by the JSW Group for a 3,200 megawatt (Mw) power project to be set up in phases. In April 2025, JSW Energy began work on a 1,600 Mw plant at Salboni.
Large, contiguous land parcels remain a thorny issue, the industry representative pointed out. “And while the government may be reluctant to extend incentives to large industries, in a regime of competitive federalism, such incentives are decisive factors for investors,” he said.
Per Capita Income: A Lagging Indicator
Perhaps that explains why the state’s per capita income continues to trail others. Data from the RBI show that Bengal’s per capita net state domestic product (at current prices) has more than tripled from ₹51,543 in FY12 to ₹1,63,467 in FY25. But it lags behind Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Punjab, and marginally Odisha — except the latter, all of these states were already ahead of WB in FY12.
Sarkar explained that Bengal’s growth has largely been agriculture-led, where prices remain subdued. “Even with higher output, consumption doesn’t rise proportionately, and bumper crops often depress prices — keeping value growth muted. In contrast, industry benefits from product diversity and the ability to continually create new demand,” he said.
Big Summits, Bigger Numbers
The business community concedes that the TMC government’s Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) has cast the state in a positive light. According to industry sources, investors come away from the summit with a favourable impression of WB and a sense of potential. But they added that in a competitive landscape, companies weigh factors such as land availability, clearances, vendor ecosystems and local advantages — elements that determine their choice.
Investment summits across India, meanwhile, are a play of tall claims and towering numbers. And according to state government estimates, the eighth edition of the BGBS held in February 2025 generated investment proposals worth ₹4.4 trillion. The previous seven editions together are estimated to have drawn proposals totalling ₹19 trillion.
However, data from the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) tell another story. In 2021, 27 industrial entrepreneur memoranda (IEMs) proposed investments of ₹5,535 crore; in 2022, 26 IEMs accounted for ₹4,532 crore; and in 2023, 37 IEMs totalled ₹6,486 crore. In 2024, Bengal ranked fifth with 31 IEMs and a proposed investment of ₹39,306 crore. Till December 2025, investment intentions were ₹4,199 crore.
Still, a renewed buzz is building around Sector V in Salt Lake and New Town Rajarhat in the north-eastern periphery of Kolkata. Infosys has started its development centre on a 50-acre plot; ITC Infotech had launched its first global AI Centre of Excellence last year. At the Bengal Silicon Valley Tech Hub in Rajarhat where 250 acres were offered at 25 per cent of the market price, about 42 companies have taken up space — from Reliance IT Park to Adani, NTT, LTIMindtree, Nxtra, and a host of data centre firms.
TCS, which employs more than 54,000 in the state, is set to add another campus on 20 acres at the Hub. To know more about the growth of the IT sector in India, visit our blog on IT Sector in India.