Key Points
- 2,227 companies, including 39 listed ones, relocated from West Bengal between 2019 and 2024.
- Reasons for the move include easier operations, cost savings, and better control over management.
- Experts suggest poor infrastructure and complex regulations as key reasons for the exodus.
- States like Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Karnataka are the main destinations for companies.
- Bengal’s decreasing corporate presence calls for urgent changes to improve its business climate.
- The BJP-led government has raised concerns about the impact on jobs and industrial growth.
Looma News
From 2019 to 2024, over 2,200 companies, including 39 listed ones, moved their registered offices out of West Bengal. Corporate Affairs Minister Harsh Malhotra shared this information in the Rajya Sabha, explaining that businesses were drawn to states offering easier operations, cost savings, and better control. These companies mainly operate in manufacturing, finance, trading, and commission-based sectors.
Experts believe that West Bengal’s poor infrastructure, complex regulations, and overall less business-friendly environment are key reasons for the exodus. States like Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Karnataka have attracted these businesses with their favorable policies and strong industrial ecosystems. This significant shift, especially involving listed companies, highlights Bengal’s need for reform to maintain its corporate presence.
Industry experts warn that Bengal must act quickly to improve its business environment. Without changes to make operations smoother, reduce costs, and simplify regulations, the state risks losing even more businesses to states that are more attractive to investors. The issue has also become a political topic, with BJP leaders citing it as proof of stagnation in industrial growth and job creation in Bengal.
For Bengal to stay competitive, it must focus on economic reforms and create a more business-friendly atmosphere to reverse this trend and regain its status as a hub for businesses.
