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West Bengal is situated in Eastern India. The state shares its borders with Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, Sikkim and Assam. The state shares international borders with Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal. The Bay of Bengal is in the South of the state. Because of its location, West Bengal offers definite advantage as the traditional domestic market in Eastern India, the Northeast and the land-locked countries of Nepal and Bhutan, which are easily accessible. The state is also an entry point to markets in Southeast Asia, via the Northeastern states.
Kolkata, which is a metropolitan city, has a comparatively lower cost of operating a business as compared to the other metropolitan cities of India.
West Bengal has abundant natural resources of minerals and suitable agro-climatic conditions for agriculture, horticulture and fisheries. West Bengal also has a prosperous hinterland of some mineral rich states like Jharkhand, Bihar and Odisha. The state is home to a number of renowned educational institutions and higher learning centres. There are 22 universities in the state along with sizeable research institutes.
West Bengal offers excellent connectivity to the rest of India in terms of railways, roadways, ports and airports. Major stretches of the golden quadrilateral project also pass through the Northern districts of the state.
At current prices, the gross state domestic product (GSDP) of West Bengal was about US$ 114.7 billion in 2011-12. The average annual GSDP growth rate from 2004-05 to 2011-12, was about 13.8 per cent.
State Presentation (March 2013)
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