New Bengal |
For decades, West Bengal has lived on memory. The state that once led India in commerce, finance, manufacturing and intellectual life slowly ceded ground to Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, and even neighbouring Bangladesh in several labour-intensive sectors. Kolkata, once the subcontinent’s premier capital, became increasingly dependent on government employment, remittances, and consumption rather than wealth creation. Yet the assumption that Bengal’s economic decline is irreversible may be historically inaccurate and strategically dangerous.
The state still possesses assets that most regions would envy: a major port city, proximity to Southeast Asia, a large educated population, engineering capability, fertile agricultural zones, tea, tourism potential, and deep industrial memory. The real question is whether Bengal can rediscover an economic identity suited to the 21st century instead of remaining trapped between nostalgia and political populism. India’s eastern corridor is gaining renewed geopolitical relevance. Global supply chains are diversifying away from excessive dependence on China. Bangladesh has emerged as one of the world’s largest garment exporters.
The Bay of Bengal is becoming strategically central to Indo-Pacific trade........