West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said on Friday that any sort of hooliganism or extortion attempts against any industrialist or investor in the state will be dealt with drastically by the police administration since the state government had adopted a "zero tolerance" approach against any activity that might erode the investors' confidence in the state.
"To improve the industrial infrastructure in the state, law and order needed to be fixed first. That is why the state government has introduced the West Bengal Public Safety and Control of Anti-Social Activities Act, 2026. Henceforth, if anyone or any group locks the factory gate, their place will be behind the bars.
If they come to the factory and break the gate, three times of the loss amount will be recovered from those who would resort to such hooliganism. No syndicate, no extortion, no extortion... We are adopting a zero-tolerance policy on this count," the Chief Minster added at the inauguration of expansion of a steel plant involving Rs 15,000 crore at Mejia in Bankura district.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Adhikari also explained why the "land procurement policy" of the new state government led by him is different from that pursued by the previous Left Front government from 1977 to 2011 and then the Trinamool Congress government from 2011 to 2026.
"The Left Front government believe in acquiring land from landowners at the gunpoint. The previous Trinamool Congress government played no role in land procurement for industry and instead asked the investors to procure land directly from the investors, which was an impossible proposition.
But we are following a "direct land policy" where the state government is directly purchasing land required for industrial or infrastructure and subsequently handover that land for the project for which it had been acquired. We are against both forceful land acquisition and also washing off our hands from our responsibility on this count," the Chief Minister said.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Adhikari also added that had not the government changed in West Bengal in the recently concluded Assembly polls in the state, then even the leftover industries in West Bengal would have shifted to other states.
"Bengal and Bengalis have been saved because of this change in regime. The investors have also started coming back and showing investment interest," the Chief Minister said.