Bengal targets 18% revenue growth this fiscal, says finance minister
Times of India | 26 July 2026
Kolkata: Bengal is aiming for a revenue growth of 18% by the end of the current fiscal. State finance minister Swapan Dasgupta on Saturday said that an increased tax net and larger compliance will boost the state’s revenue.
During discussions on Appropriation Bill in assembly, Dasgupta said, “We are hopeful of increasing the revenue by 18% by the end of the year. There are some sectors like mining which the previous govt made almost tax free. A state’s revenue increases with the increase in economic activity. If there is an increase in the revenue collection, the state stands to gain from that.”
Earlier during the discussion, he said that state govt has received around Rs 70,000 crore from Centre since it has assumed office. “Had we not received the amount, the state would have gone bankrupt. The debt burden we have inherited has to be met anyhow. That is a big responsibility,” he said during the discussion. “We have flouted discipline in the Budget, and that is why we are facing troubles in Bengal,” he said.
Dasgupta added that govt will now have to make several additional provisions, including one about an arbitration award in favour of Tata Motors over a dispute concerning land allotted for setting up a car manufacturing unit.
Talking about the state of industrialization, Dasgupta pointed at inflated figures sent by state govt to Centre. Pointing to former minister and Trinamool MLA Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay’s comment that Bengal under Mamata Banerjee govt had secured top-tier rankings in various parameters including investment in heavy industries, Dasgupta said these rankings are decided by Central govt based on data provided by the state.
“It was being publicized that Bengal has 93 lakh MSME units. The same report was sent to Centre. Later, we found out that only 22 lakh MSMEs are registered on Udyam registration portal. Of that, 4.5 lakh MSMEs did not even have a PAN card. Finally, we could figure out that 99,000 MSMEs are functional in Bengal,” he said.