Kolkata, Nov 5 : West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Thursday issued a strong note of caution against attempts at extortion or attempts to close industrial units through militant trade unionism and threatened instant arrests of the perpetrators in both such cases after the state government unveiled its new industrial policy.
"There is a dedicated helpline number for registering complaints on extortion. I am requesting the investors to register their complaints on that helpline number. I assure that action will be taken within 15 minutes from the time the complaint is registered and the perpetrators will be dealt with strictly as per legal provisions," said the Chief Minister.
The Chief Minister also used a strong note of caution to stall operations in any industrial unit in the name of militant trade unionism.
"I will not allow any attempt at unnecessary cease-work at any industrial unit. Those who will try to do so will be put in jail. I will ensure that they will stay in jail for a long time. If there is any complaint against any management, there is a proper way to address that by approaching the labour commission," the Chief Minister said.
He also launched a scathing attack against the previous Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress over the annual "Bengal Global Business Summit" meant to be organised during the previous regime to attract investment in the state.
"Over Rs 650 crore was spent in organising eight such summits. The previous government claimed that memoranda of understanding worth Rs 16 lakh crore were signed in these eight summits. But ultimately nothing fructified. The previous government even showed infrastructure development projects as proposed investments," the Chief Minister said.
He claimed that the previous regime neglected the generation of the state's own tax revenue and claimed that the state exchequer suffered severe losses because of the patronage of corruption during the previous regime.
"However, things have started improving in the first six months of our new government. The state's revenue has increased according to the respective periods of the two financial years from April to September 2025 and from April to October 2026," he said.
He added that although it is not possible to take any new initiative right now, the revenue collection has increased by Rs 4,000 crore compared to last year.
"Our goal is to increase the state's own tax revenue by stopping money laundering and extortion and create an environment for investment in industry," the Chief Minister added.
