Synopsis

West Bengal debates industrial land assembly mechanisms like acquisition and land pooling. Attracting capital requires institutional credibility and confidence in stable rules. The government is examining land pooling and industrial park development. Large contiguous land parcels are essential for investor confidence and project execution. Genuine intent to build industry is needed, not just political rhetoric.

Under BJP, West Bengal is once again debating how to put land together for industry. The debate has now acquired a distinctly technical vocabulary: acquisition, negotiated purchase and land pooling.



The three mechanisms are not interchangeable. Acquisition involves compulsory purchase under a statutory framework. Negotiated purchase relies on agreement between landowner and purchaser. Land pooling allows owners to contribute land to a development scheme and receive a smaller, but serviced, and potentially more valuable plot in return. The choice, as recent policy discussions suggest, should depend on the nature of the project.



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For Bengal, the question of land has always been inseparable from the question of industrialisation. So, the new discussion raises a more fundamental question: even if Bengal succeeds in solving the problem of industrial land, will it succeed in attracting capital? Land can be assembled through legislation, negotiation or planning. But capital can only be attracted through confidence.



Excitement surrounding political change is understandable. Bengal has always regarded politics not merely as a mechanism of governance but also as a form of public entertainment. Movement of legislators from one camp to another has become a spectator sport.



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Capital, however, follows a different script. It's largely indifferent to the daily theatre of politics, and far more concerned with the stability of institutions. Consider an entrepreneur planning a large investment. The questions are surprisingly simple. Not whether the government is Left, Right or Centre. Not whether ministers speak Bengali, Hindi or English. Not whether people will eat veg or non-veg food. Not whether one political camp will replace another in controlling campuses, institutions or public spaces. The real question is: will rules that exist today survive tomorrow? That confidence in the durability of institutions is what economists and investors describe as institutional credibility.



It is in this context that the new government's willingness to reconsider how industrial land is assembled becomes significant. Bengal has already begun examining land pooling, industrial parks, and changes to landholding and land-utilisation rules. The government is also considering ways of making large contiguous parcels available without directly acquiring individual agricultural plots.



This is important because Bengal's problem is not simply a shortage of land. It's a shortage of large, contiguous and legally usable parcels of land. Fragmented holdings, overlapping claims and restrictions on land use can make an apparently simple industrial project extraordinarily complicated.

ET Bureau

Earlier attempts to create land banks from idle public sector land ran into precisely this problem: available parcels were often too small or too fragmented for large investors. Indeed, there are now signs of movement from policy to implementation. The government has cleared land for 33 industries, and that the land will be handed over before Durga Puja. This is significant. But the real test will be whether these allocations translate into timely project execution, employment and sustained private investment.



Land pooling could be a useful solution. But it's not a magic wand. Bengal has laws that allow land to be reorganised for development. What matters now is whether these provisions can be implemented effectively, with clear rules on ownership, compensation, infrastructure and land use. Land pooling may bring plots together. But it cannot make ownership disputes disappear.



And this is where the land question meets the question of capital. Corruption is costly. But uncertainty can be even more so. Investors can price an unofficial cost. It's much harder to price changing rules, administrative discretion and unpredictable policy.



There's also a geographical reality. Large, contiguous parcels are rarely available near Bengal's major cities. So, industry may have to move farther out, where land disputes and infrastructure gaps can be greater. Industrialists, therefore, need to look beyond quick returns and become partners in building these new industrial regions with the government. Given Bengal's political history, industrialisation cannot be reduced to capitalist extraction alone. It must also create a stake for local communities.



Capital has no ideology. But it has an excellent memory. Two decades ago, large sections of Bengal's political class mobilised against industrial projects in Singur and Nandigram. Today, many of those political actors either constitute an important part of the new political establishment, or have moved into entirely different political formations.



One may celebrate or criticise this phenomenon. But it deserves analysis rather than outrage. The human mind, after all, is a time-variant function. Mathematics teaches us that important variables seldom remain constant. Political preferences are no exception. The objective function of a leader in opposition differs from that of the same leader in government. In electoral democracy, opposition rewards agitation, while government rewards investment; employment and revenue suddenly become governing responsibilities rather than campaign slogans.



Consequently, it may be unnecessary to ask whether politicians have become different human beings. The more relevant question is whether the institutional incentives under which they operate have changed.



Many of the legal instruments required for assembling industrial land already exist. Creating another set of laws, by itself, will not rebuild West Bengal's industrial land bank. What is required is an unambiguous intention to build industry rather than perform shallow politics. The Left Front came to power in 1977 with a clear intention to pursue land reform for the landless. Today, the era, ideology and people are different. Will the new industrial agenda reflect genuine intent? Or will it be merely political rhetoric?

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of www.economictimes.com.)

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