It’s not often that one gets to write on ‘destination Bengal’. For long, Bengalis have rested on their past laurels. That those have been singularly path-breaking has never been in doubt. But the sheen was gradually wearing off until at last the bare bones were showing.
‘Nothing happens here’ became the buzzword. I remember once a Bangalore lass telling me that she never dreams of venturing to Kolkata ‘cause all that she knows is that the city is in perpetual decay. And who wants to be a part of decay! No wonder, the national media and today’s wonder-kids summarily abdicated anything that has to do with this great metropolis.
CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, harbinger of fortune?
Picture source : http://static.ibnlive.com/pix/sitepix/buddhadeb248.jpg.
Seems things are changing after a long hiatus. Salim groups’ promise to transform the landscape around Kolkata is a great way to mark a new beginning. Investments have been trickling in for the past couple of years, now that will turn into a torrent. Suddenly there is so much scope in Bengal that it has become difficult to accommodate all who are rushing in with moneybags.
To the government’s credit, it went whole-hog for foreign investments when it found to its dismay that Indian biggies bear an anathema – so typical of them – to invest here. Today the situation is such that even if a company of the stature of Infosys doesn’t find the land cost conducive to invest, it doesn’t matter much.
Surveying the scene as it continually unfolds, it will not be unwise to say that Bengal will leapfrog to the forefront of development in a decade’s time. And then the buzzword will change to ‘future belongs here’. Forever.
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