Kolkata — Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani said Thursday that eastern India must play a much larger role in the country’s next phase of economic growth, arguing that West Bengal is well positioned to become a major economic and infrastructure hub.
Speaking at the Indian Chamber of Commerce, Adani said much of India’s economic momentum over the past several decades has come from the western and southern parts of the country.
“For India’s next trillion dollars of growth, the East must rise. And this is where Bengal becomes essential to fulfil the vision of Viksit Bharat. And, in my view, no location in India has Bengal’s combination of advantages,” he said.
Adani pointed to West Bengal’s geographic position, with the mineral- and industry-rich states of Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh to the west, India’s Northeast to the north and east, and access through the Bay of Bengal to fast-growing markets in Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific.
He said those markets represent access to about 60 percent of global GDP and 65 percent of the world’s population.
“In the language of infrastructure, Bengal is not simply just another market. It is a strategic national node waiting for the expansion of its potential networks. And this is how, at Adani, we see the promise of Bengal,” Adani said.
He said the Adani Group’s plans for West Bengal extend beyond individual projects and include investment across several major sectors.
“Over the coming decade, our intent is to deploy over one lakh crore rupees across Bengal. This will span ports, logistics, power generation, power transmission and distribution, roads, bridges and ropeways, green cement, as well as hyperscale data centres,” he said.
Adani also said economic development should not be measured only through infrastructure and industrial output, but also through its impact on people.
He cited the group’s plans to establish the Adani Arogya Mandir, a 2,000-bed medical institute in New Town. Half of the hospital’s beds will be reserved for people who cannot afford quality medical care.
Adani said the group also intends to support cultural and heritage initiatives in the state, including the revitalization of Kumartuli Ghat, a curated Durga Puja program featuring Bengal’s artists, efforts to take the festival to international audiences and conservation of the historic Writers’ Building.
“But while we build for Bengal’s future, we must also honour what makes Bengal timeless — and that is its ghats, its literature, its architecture, its festivals, and its extraordinary cultural confidence,” he said.
Reflecting on the beginning of his entrepreneurial journey three decades ago, Adani described Mundra in western India as his first “karmabhoomi” and said he hoped Bengal could become his second.
“Not because Bengal must become another Gujarat — but because Bengal must become the strongest version of Bengal itself, drawing upon its geography, its intellect, its industrial legacy, and its historic ability to awaken the nation,” he said. (Source: IANS)
