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NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Ashok Lahiri has expressed confidence that West Bengal will see improvements in its regulatory environment as state governments increasingly recognise the need to ease regulations and support industrial growth.
Speaking to the media on regulatory reforms at the Centre and state levels, Lahiri said states were becoming more aware of shortcomings in their regulatory systems and were taking steps to address them. "State governments now are very aware of the deficiencies of the regulatory regime and they're trying to reform it. I'm very hopeful that in West Bengal we'll see definite improvements in the regulatory regime," he said. Lahiri emphasised that regulatory reforms must be an ongoing process to support economic growth and improve the environment for industries. "Reform is a continuous process. It's not that you do it one day and then hang your boots and go away," he said. He further pointed out that states have a crucial role in implementing reforms because industries operate within their jurisdictions. "Every industry is in a state. There is no industry at the Centre," he said, highlighting the importance of state-level action in improving the regulatory framework. Asked about the investment performance of the West Bengal government during its first five months in office, Lahiri said it was too early to assess its achievements but expressed optimism about its ability to meet expectations. "Five months is too short a period to come to a definite judgement, but from the statements of the government, from the way they're interacting, I'm quite hopeful that this government will deliver," he said. He added that public expectations from the government were high and expressed confidence that it would fulfil them. Lahiri also called for West Bengal to regain its position among India's leading industrial states, noting that the state had considerable economic potential but had lost ground over the years. "I actually believe it's a state with a lot of potential. For some reason or the other, we have slipped down. So the time has come to redeem Bengal's glory and become one of the leading industrial states in the country," he said. He said the government was aware of the work needed to restore the state's industrial standing and expressed hope that reforms would help it move in that direction. (ANI)
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