West Bengal sees microfinance as a key driver of economic growth: Mitra

Speaking at a precursor meeting of the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) 2023, Mitra said that banks in West Bengal lent Rs 1.28 trillion to the MSMEs in FY23

Banks in West Bengal are making huge investments in labour-intensive micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), leading to rapid economic growth in the state, Principal Chief Advisor Amit Mitra said in a media briefing on Tuesday. 

Speaking at a precursor meeting of the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) 2023, Mitra said the banks lent Rs 1.28 trillion to the MSMEs in FY23, which is more than the Rs 1.04 trillion provided in FY22. 

“No target has been fixed for this year, but we are hopeful that it will be close to last year’s levels. Investments in microfinance is a sure way of growing the state’s economy. Moreover, this growth leads to huge employment creation. Today, the state’s economy is the fifth largest in the country and is more than $200 billion,” he added.  
 

 

Scheduled to be held in late November, the summit brings together corporate leaders, business delegations, entrepreneurs, and academia from around the globe to learn about the industrial ecosystem of West Bengal.

Mitra also mentioned the growth in the mining, natural gas, and digital sector, as “a large number of domestic and global companies are willing to invest” in the state in these sectors. He said GAIL would soon launch natural gas in Kolkata city. 

“Apart from coal mining, for which Bengal is famous, huge investments are being made by the firms in the coal bed methane and shale gas reserves, which have been found in the state. The Silicon Valley hub, which is home to a large number of tech firms, is being developed as a data centre hub,” he said.

Speaking about the foundries and casting industry of the state, Mitra said railway wagon firms like Titagarh and Texmaco had booked orders worth more than Rs 40,000 crore with the clusters in the state. 

“Additionally, we are committed to growing the cement sector in the state along with newer technologies like 3D printing. We already have Japanese major Fujisoft helping us to create world-class technology in the fan sector. We intend to bring in more advanced tech to our small and medium industries,” he said.